Wyoming State Training School

Location: Lander

Established: In 1912, the Wyoming State School for Defectives opened. The name was changed to the Training School in 1921.

Capacity: The facility is licensed for 161 beds. Right now, there are about 95 residents with developmental disabilities, 14 with acquired brain injuries and four others who do not fit in a category.

Cost to state: The state allocated about $50.4 million for the facility in the 2007-08 biennium budget, but the facility reimburses about 50 to 55 percent of the operational costs to the general fund from revenue from Medicaid and private sources.

Services: The facility offers residents therapeutic services such as physical, occupational and speech therapy as well as less conventional types such as horse therapy, aquatic therapy and horticulture therapy. It also provides medical care and learning and job opportunities.

What employees are saying: "You bond with people and don't look at them as a person with a disability," said Pat Reed, the day program manager. "You talk to anyone, and they will tell you our prime focus is the people who live here."

What residents think: "They take the time to assist her even if it takes an hour and a half," said Eileen Harnsberger, whose daughter, Laura, lives there. "The day programs are providing a lot. My family is really happy with the situation."

Fun fact: The Training School owns six horses as part of its therapy program and three ponies for residents to bond with and pet.

Wyoming Retirement Center

Location: Basin

Established: In 1958, the state turned a building that used to be a tuberculosis sanitarium into a place to care for the state's elderly. A new building was constructed in 1980, and it became known as the Wyoming Retirement Center in 1985.

Capacity: The facility is licensed for 90 beds, but it can handle only about 75 people. About 58 people are living at the center right now because of construction.

Cost to state: The state allocated about $10 million for facility in the 2007-08 biennium budget, but the facility reimburses about 50 percent of the operational costs to the general fund from revenue from Medicaid, Medicare and private sources

Services: It is licensed as a long-term care facility for the elderly and people with disabilities. It offers 24-hour nursing care, regularly scheduled physician visits and different types of therapy as well as many activities for the residents.

What employees are saying: "It's a nice place to work because they give good, quality care," said Bernadine Taylor, a registered nurse at the retirement center. "The residents we care for can really see the difference."

What residents think: "The staff here is outstanding," said Wayne Wright, who has lived at the facility for more than a year and a half. "This is the third nursing home I have been in, and I am finally content here."

Fun fact: There is a large aviary with about 10 colorful birds in the lobby. The species are catalogued in a book for residents and visitors to view. The birds are there to comfort and entertain residents.

Wyoming Pioneer Home

Location: Thermopolis

Established: In 1947, the Legislature approved the building of this assisted-living facility, and residents moved into it in 1950.

Capacity: Even though the Pioneer Home is licensed for 108 beds, the facility now allows people to have two rooms and their own bathroom to make it more comfortable for them. There are about 53 people currently living at the facility.

Cost to state: The state allocated about $3.5 million for the facility in the 2007-08 biennium budget, but the facility reimburses about 40 percent of operational costs to the general fund from fees collected from residents.

Services: It is licensed as an assisted-living facility. It offers residents three meals a day, laundry service, medical assistance and many activities including pedicures in its beauty salon or exercise classes.

What employees are saying: "We are the best-kept secret in Wyoming," said Dawn Larson, nurse manager. "We may not be the most modern, but we are the best in care."

What residents think: "One of the biggest blessings about being here is being taken care of," said Dorothy Evans, who has lived there for about two years. "You get spoiled."

Fun fact: There is a museum in the basement of the Pioneer Home full of American Indian artifacts, newspapers from 1899 and memorabilia from early hotels built in Yellowstone National Park.

Veterans' Home of Wyoming

Location: Buffalo

Established: The home began in Cheyenne in 1898 but was moved to Buffalo in 1903.

Capacity: The home is licensed for 117 beds, but not all those beds are available because some rooms have been turned into offices. The census of the home fluctuates between 100 and 110 residents.

Cost to state: The state allocated about $5.15 million for the facility in the 2007-08 biennium budget, but the facility reimburses about 60 to 75 percent of operational costs to the general fund from revenue from the Department of Veterans Affairs and private sources.

Services: It functions as a medical facility somewhere between an assisted-living facility and a nursing home. It offers residents three meals a day, transportation to and from doctor's appointments and activities such as camping, painting and computer classes.

What employees are saying: "I think we are providing a good service," said Anne Hensley, a social worker at the home. "Some of them, if they didn't have this, they would be on the streets."

What residents think: "I've been looking for this place for 40 years," said resident George McNaughton. "It was just what the doctor ordered."

Fun fact: The Veterans' Home is built on 960 acres of Fort McKinney, where troops were stationed from 1877 to 1894 to prevent American Indians from reoccupying their land.

Wyoming State Hospital

Location: Evanston

Established: It opened in 1887 as the Wyoming State Asylum for the Insane, but the name was changed to the State Hospital in 1923.

Capacity: The State Hospital is licensed for 166 inpatient beds, but some of these beds are not used anymore. Right now, there are about 130 to 140 people being served through the facility's adult psychiatric program and extended services program.

Cost to state: The state allocated $67.4 million for the facility in the 2007-08 biennium budget. The hospital pays $500,000 to the state each year to pay off the funds given to it from the state to build an $8.7 million new hospital wing.

Services: It offers inpatient adult psychiatric services, a substance abuse program and outpatient services. It provides group homes for residents and even apartments for people to live in who are not quite ready to live in the community. The facility also serves the criminal justice system.

What employees are saying: "I do see a change and improvement," said Toni Walworth, a nurse supervisor. "It's exciting to see people move on and get on with their lives."

What residents think: "They help people to learn," said Janeen Heavin, who now has a job, her own apartment and a new life because the State Hospital helped her. "I see a lot of people succeed."

Fun fact: The State Hospital acts as a mini-city with its own plumbers, police department and nursing assistant certification program.