Injuries requiring Workers' Compensation claims from staff members at the Wyoming Medical Center have declined 60 percent over the past year because of new equipment and training, its chief executive officer said Wednesday.

The hospital bought "diligent lifting equipment" and brought in a firm to train employees, Vickie Diamond told the five-member board of trustees of the Memorial Hospital of Natrona County at its monthly meeting.

Some equipment enables nurses and other staff members to lift patients to their beds or take them to the bathroom with very little effort, Diamond said.

"It was very expensive equipment, but worth it," she said.

WMC's vice president for human resources Dick Williams added the company hired by the hospital guarantees workers' compensation costs will decline with this equipment and training.

The trustees of the Memorial Hospital of Natrona County oversee the lease of the hospital assets owned by Natrona County to the nonprofit Wyoming Medical Center Inc. In exchange for the use of the county's hospital assets, the lease requires the WMC to provide care for prisoners and destitute patients, and to maintain the value of the property.

In addition to the new equipment, Diamond said the WMC has been conducting nurse training to improve their time at bedside, and decrease administrative and bureaucratic responsibilities.

"Nursing is a physical, hard job," she said.

Diamond also said the hospital's smoking ban is on track.

But Natrona County commissioner Barb Peryam wanted to know how far the hospital will go to enforce it.

Diamond responded that people are, for the most part, courteous and considerate.

"We will tell people not to smoke," she said. "All you can do is say, 'Please put out your cigarette.'"

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at tom.morton@trib.com. Read his blog at tribtown.trib.com.