New research finds health challenges facing Natrona County run deeper than the clinic

The following news release was distributed Oct. 1, 2026.

CASPER, Wyo., Oct. 1, 2026. Wyoming ranks last in the country on adverse childhood experiences. A Natrona County family needs to earn roughly $62,000 a year to be truly self-sufficient, but most public programs stop helping well before a household reaches that level. A minimum-wage worker here would need more than 113 hours a week just to afford rent. For the Natrona Collective Health Trust, these aren’t three separate problems. They’re three angles on the same one.

The Trust is releasing that research today as part of a yearlong strategic planning process that included interviews, focus groups, a community listening session, and an analysis of health data and publicly available research.

“The health challenges people face in Natrona County don’t start in the clinic. They start with the cost of living, whether families can make ends meet, whether the support around them is actually reachable, and whether they can afford preventive care before a problem becomes an emergency. We wanted to understand that clearly before making decisions about where to focus,” said Beth Worthen, CEO of the Trust.

Researchers who study population health draw a distinction between health outcomes, how long people live and whether they get sick, and the conditions that shape those outcomes: income, housing, access to care, the stability of the environment around a family. Change those conditions, and the outcomes change with them. That is the logic behind the Trust’s research, and why economic and housing data appear alongside clinical measures throughout these findings.

The research found crisis-level pressure on children and families. Wyoming’s rate of adverse childhood experiences, circumstances like a parent’s incarceration, witnessing domestic violence at home, or growing up around substance use, is the worst measured in the country. One in 10 Wyoming children has a parent or guardian who has been incarcerated. One in 3 women in Natrona County receives less than adequate prenatal care. The share of Natrona County adults reporting frequent mental distress has risen 38% since 2019, compared with 15% statewide and 23% nationally.

The burden falls unevenly. One in 3 single-mother households in Natrona County lives in poverty, and 1 in 3 children here lives in a single-parent household. Wyoming’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, while a family of four in Natrona County needs $24.85 an hour to meet its basic needs. Calls to the county’s rental and eviction assistance line have more than tripled since 2021.

In a February 2026 survey of Wyoming registered voters conducted by New Bridge Strategy, 81% identified the cost of healthcare as an extremely or very serious problem. The cost of living and mental health followed close behind, at 74% and 63% respectively. The structural picture reinforces what residents said. Wyoming is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid, leaving about 15,200 residents in a coverage gap: they earn too much for Medicaid but too little for marketplace health insurance. The state ranks 46th nationally in healthcare access and affordability. Nearly 8 in 10 Wyoming households that qualify for SNAP, the federal food assistance program, do not receive it.

These gaps are expensive to leave in place. Research shows every dollar invested in public health saves roughly $14 in downstream costs. In Natrona County, the math holds locally. The jail costs $147 a day to operate, while sober living runs about $16 to $17 a day. A primary care visit at a Casper clinic runs $232; a Level 4 emergency room visit for the same condition runs $1,029 to $2,450. A local court diversion program avoided more than $459,000 in incarceration costs in 2025. The community pays for these problems either way. The Trust’s research found that coordinated, upstream investment is the path to a different outcome.

There is no silver bullet for problems this connected, and the research doesn’t point to one. What it does show is that much of this is preventable, and that Natrona County already has the nonprofits, public partners, and community relationships to change it. In November, the Trust will share a new strategic plan built on these findings. That plan will draw on every tool the Trust has, including grantmaking, advocacy, research, impact investing, and programs and services, working alongside local nonprofits to reach families earlier, before they hit a point of crisis and before the costs land on the county’s jails, emergency rooms, and safety net programs.

Explore the full findings, including three infographics on health and economic conditions in Natrona County and a timeline for the Trust’s strategic planning rollout, at collectivehealthtrust.org/our-health. The infographics are also available individually: When crisis starts young, Who carries the most weight, and A safety net with too many gaps.

About the Natrona Collective Health Trust

The Natrona Collective Health Trust is a private health conversion foundation based in Casper, Wyoming. Established in 2020 following Banner Health’s acquisition of Wyoming Medical Center, the Trust manages an endowment of approximately $330 million and distributes at least 5% of total assets each year in support of health and well-being in Natrona County. Since its founding, the Trust has distributed more than $66 million to the community. Learn more at collectivehealthtrust.org.

Media contact

Beth Worthen, CEO
Natrona Collective Health Trust
421 S. Center St., Casper, WY 82601
307-243-2161
bworthen@collectivehealthtrust.org