How EHR Technology Modernizes Rural Healthcare Workflows at Pershing General Hospital

In the small frontier town of Lovelock, Nevada, Pershing General Hospital (PGH) is a vital resource. Farming and mining communities across a vast geographic region rely on the critical access hospital for lifesaving care. 

“Practicing medicine in what we call the Wild West requires grit, ingenuity, and the right partners,” says Sydney Wemple, nursing administration coordinator at PGH. “We rely on organizations like TruBridge that understand the operational and financial challenges we face. We look to them to help us provide secure, cost-effective solutions that improve care quality.”  

PGH’s modernization efforts gained momentum following the 2025 TruBridge National Client Conference (NCC),  This annual event brings together healthcare leaders and industry experts to explore best practices and strategies that strengthen healthcare operations.

Like many rural hospitals, PGH operates with limited staffing and capital, which make it difficult to keep pace with rapid technological change. Over time, workflows and systems had become dated. Much of the organization’s technology had remained largely unchanged for more than two decades.

In 2023, PGH leadership recognized the need for a technology refresh and began evaluating opportunities to modernize processes across departments. Wemple joined the hospital’s EHR steering committee, helping guide decisions around clinical documentation and operational efficiency.

Ahead of the 2025 NCC, the team questioned whether their existing systems could be improved and felt a complete EHR replacement might be necessary. What they discovered at the conference reshaped their perspective.

“We realized there was more depth, flexibility, and long-term value in TruBridge’s solutions than we previously understood,” Wemple says. “We came back advocating for investments that would allow us to build on the technology we already had.”

PGH operates 13 inpatient/swing beds, a 3-bed emergency room, a 25-bed long-term care unit, and an attached rural health clinic.  

“Having previously worked in a large hospital system, I saw how corporate layers could sometimes interfere with patient care,” Wemple says. “At PGH, everyone — from leadership to clinicians and staff — is aligned around a shared mission of improving the hospital and care we provide.”  

That mission often comes with unique demands in rural settings. Nurses frequently operate at the top of their license. They take on responsibilities that might be handled by specialists at larger facilities, such as mixing medications and administering breathing treatments. 

For critical access hospitals, adaptability is fundamental to survival. Each hospital’s workflows must reflect its patient population, staffing model, and available resources.  

PGH worked closely with TruBridge to customize workflows that support their day-to-day operations. The EHR often provides multiple ways to perform tasks. This flexibility allowed PGH to choose what fits their needs, instead of being forced into a rigid structure. “We would test and refine processes until they worked for us,” Wemple says. 

The investment in EHR and workflow modernization has delivered tangible results. One significant improvement has been the transition from paper documentation to system-wide eForms and eSignatures. This change has streamlined patient onboarding, reduced redundancy, and improved access across departments.  

Wemple describes the relationship they’ve had with TruBridge since 2025 as a collaborative partnership built on shared decision‑making. “They work alongside us to maintain the system, manage updates, and implement meaningful changes,” she says. “We were very behind the times, but their EHR solutions helped us become more agile as a healthcare organization.” 

Affordability, cybersecurity, and usability are priorities for any healthcare organization, but especially for rural and critical access hospitals operating on narrow margins.  

Designed with rural workflows in mind, TruBridge EHR technology supports care teams without adding unnecessary complexity. Strong cybersecurity safeguards, combined with intuitive design allow PGH to protect patient data while enabling clinicians to focus on what matters most — patient care.  

Through its partnership with TruBridge, PGH has modernized operations, optimized workflows, and regained confidence in its technology. The outcome is a more resilient organization that’s better equipped to care for its frontier community.