Health care in the coming years will look considerably different than it does today due to healthcare reform legislation passed in March 2010 by congress.

One major improvement will be the reshaping of the current model where hospitals are set up to keep patients coming in for service. In the future, the model will shift to the goal of keeping people out of hospitals by helping them maintain their health. That’ll be a huge improvement in the way of approaching health care!

Members of our Community Paramedic Program: Lisa Beard (left), Julie Scott, Sharon Lowry (right), and Julie Bower (in front).

Poudre Valley Health System is already moving in that direction. We have a free Nurse Is In program where each month our community health nurses go to three northern Colorado locations to help people monitor blood pressure, answer medical questions and offer basic health information. Our Aspen Club sponsors many free or low-cost preventive programs for older adults, while our Healthy Kids Club focuses on the health of youth. We also have many other community-based programs and public classes on wellness topics.

One of our efforts that recently received public attention is the Community Paramedic Program. The Coloradoan in Fort Collins, Colo., published a lengthy feature article about the free program Feb. 10 and followed up with a Feb. 12 editorial. In addition, Style Magazine in Fort Collins will soon publish an article about the program.

The program is among the first wave of changes in the way paramedics and emergency medical technicians throughout the nation conduct their work.

Traditionally, paramedics and EMT focus on responding to emergencies, but, since there typically aren’t medical emergencies going on constantly, they sometimes have periods of available time.

Much to their credit, our emergency responders decided to use these periods to develop the Community Paramedic Program to offer basic health screenings to people in their own homes.

The paramedics and EMTs provide in-home blood pressure checks and flu vaccinations. They also do risk assessments designed to help keep people from falling in their homes. In addition, they assist people who have questions about medications.

While all of these are great benefits, for some people the social interaction with the emergency responders is just as important. In some cases, people are home-bound and something as simple as a visitor’s smile and kinds words can help with health. The social interaction also gives emergency responders the opportunity to assess if a person’s mood or mental state have changed.

“We do what we can to help people remain healthy in their homes where they are more comfortable,” said Ted Beckman, a paramedic shift supervisor who is the program’s coordinator. “Preventive programs similar to ours are the future of health care throughout the United States.”

The Community Paramedic Program isn’t meant to replace home-visits by nurses or therapists or a visit to a doctor’s office or the need to call 911. Rather, the program is an excellent option that can save people from unnecessarily leaving their homes.

Our emergency responders launched this program in the fall of 2010. They estimate the program could have prevented up to 18,000 emergency room visits to Poudre Valley Hospital and the Medical Center of the Rockies in 2011. This would have been a significant, positive impact on the two ERs that treated a total of 52,000 patients last year.

Four emergency responders conduct our Community Paramedic Program. They will receive additional training this month in preparation of providing 24-hour coverage. They do the program in conjunction with the Aspen Club, which helps them identify persons who may want to participate. (Community members interested in receiving home visits should contact the Aspen Club, 495-8560.)

When I think about our program, thoughts of the old days to come to mind—back to when doctors in horse-drawn buggies rolled up to the porch steps and the doctor climbed down, black medical bag in hand, to do a home visit.

Those days are long-gone, of course. But some important vestiges remain.

Horse-drawn buggies have been replaced by ambulances that come visiting without emergency lights and sirens going—but the enthusiasm to care for people in their own homes remains.

Rulon

We did this because we believe vaccinations will significantly decrease the risk of flu for patients and employees.

In an average year, about 3,300 Coloradoans are hospitalized because of the flu and more than 600 deaths are due to complications from the illness. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly and persons with compromised immunity.

When we made the announcement that our organization will mandate vaccinations, there were strong, vocal reactions of opposition from a few employees and some members of the public.

I understand the reasons behind the opposition; the chief reason relates to freedom of choice.  Regardless, I firmly believe the reasons are strongly overshadowed by the most important need to protect our patients and employees.

There’s another benefit. Vaccinating employees not only helps protect patients, it also decreases the possibility that members of employee families could get the flu from their loved ones who work for PVHS.

I’m proud to report that our employees have embraced the need to be vaccinated. This year our flu vaccination rate was 95 percent, an outstanding accomplishment. The only exceptions to our mandatory flu policy were staff members who have religious convictions or medical conditions that would warrant exemptions.

In the last two years, more healthcare organizations throughout the U.S. have moved to mandatory vaccinations. This has occurred while state and federal agencies have called for mandatory flu shots in the healthcare profession. Here are two recent examples:

On Feb. 15, the State Board of Health voted to make flu vaccinations mandatory for healthcare workers in Colorado. The new rule requires hospitals to achieve a 90-percent vaccination rate by 2014. This includes employees as well as physicians and allied health professionals with hospital privileges.

The new rule in Colorado came only a few days after a federal advisory committee adopted the position that healthcare employers should strongly consider mandating flu vaccinations for staff members. In making its recommendation, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, which advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, pointed out:

“This safety precaution (flu vaccinations) not only prevents virus transmission to patients, but also reduces the risk for infection among healthcare workers, thus preserving an adequate workforce during influenza outbreaks.”

These two developments are major steps forward in Colorado and nationwide efforts to ensure the health and safety of patients and healthcare employees and their families.

On a related topic while we’re focused on the flu…

I’d like to note that health officials across the nation are warning the public to remember that we are still in the flu season.

For example, in Larimer County, where PVHS is headquartered, the county health department distributed a press release Feb. 16 saying that flu activity is on the rise. Among the patients was an elderly woman who died due to complications from the flu.

“February is usually the time when we see the numbers of cases increase in a typical year,” related Susanne Murray, a communicable disease nurse for the county. “It looks like that’s what is happening this year since we’re starting to see a definite rise in flu activity.”

The health department recommends that adults ask for a Tdap booster (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) when getting their flu shot. The Tdap will help boost immunity to whooping cough, another illness on the rise in northern Colorado.

I’d like to encourage you to learn more about the flu by going to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention influenza website. You’ll find information about symptoms, prevention, how flu spreads, and vaccination recommendations. The site has flu information related to adults and children.

It’s my sincere wish that you remain well and healthy—and that you take the precautions to avoid the flu.

Rulon

Dr. Thomas Matthew and RN Julia Jones with one of their open-heart surgery patients in Rwanda

Two Medical Center of the Rockies clinicians—Dr. Thomas Matthew and Julia Jones—have been on a medical mission treating severe heart patients in Rwanda since Feb. 6.

Before I continue on with their story, let me tell you a bit about Rwanda, one of the world’s poorest countries. Its per capita income is $370 compared to $39,000 in the U.S.

Rwanda has had national health insurance for 11 years. About 92 percent of the citizens are covered. Premiums are $2 a year. But, because of the nation’s impoverishment, the national health insurance program can afford to spend only about $32 a year per person, which doesn’t buy much. Certain common illnesses are the main ones tackled, such as infected cuts, malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malnutrition, according to the Cato Institute.

Major medical care that we take for granted in the U.S.—dialysis and treatments for cancer, strokes and heart attacks—are generally unavailable in Rwanda.

So, with this information as the backdrop, a group of clinicians and non-clinicians from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital—medical centers with cardiac surgery and cardiology programs consistently top-rated in the U.S.—founded Team Heart in 2007. Participants volunteer their time and pay their own expenses. Medical equipment and supplies are donated. 

Team Heart works in partnership with the Rwanda Heart Foundation and Ministry of Health to assist Rwanda in building a program in cardiac surgery.

This year’s medical mission of 40 volunteers—cardiac surgeons, ICU RNs, anesthesiologists, and others—is the first time a team from Colorado joined in. The Colorado team: Julia and Thomas.

Julia is the nurse manager for MCR’s perioperative services—care given to patients before, during and after surgery—while Thomas is a cardiovascular surgeon who recently joined our Poudre Valley Medical Group.

He joined PVMG as part of a collaborative effort by Poudre Valley Health System and Longmont United Hospital to expand the Heart Center of the Rockies regional program. As part of this collaborative effort, Thomas and Dr. Mark B. Douthit moved from the Longmont hospital to MCR to join the regional cardiovascular surgery program already underway by Drs. Mark Guadagnoli and Michael Stanton.

Thomas sent me an email earlier this week saying that, so far, with this medical mission in Rwanda, 12 open heart cases have been performed where Team Heart is stationed in Kigali. The procedures included single valve, double valve and triple valve operations. The patients range in ages from 14 to 37, and all suffer from post-rheumatic valve disease, a degenerative disease that leads to leakage in a heart valve. Rheumatic heart disease is common in developing countries like Rwanda.

Thomas reported in the email that the patients are doing well and most have already been moved out of the ICU and into the nursing care area. He and Julia are remaining in Rwanda until all of the patients are out of the ICU, probably sometime this weekend.

I cannot begin to say how impressed I am with Thomas and Julia. Like other Team Heart members and other good-hearted people in the world, they saw a great need and they didn’t let time or distance or international boundary lines stand in their way to help others.

We should all be grateful to have such two fine souls as part of the healthcare endeavors in our region.

Rulon

Yes, romance and all that are very important, but there’s also the wonderful fact that this Valentine’s Day marks the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland.

Five years ago we thought it was pretty cool to open on Valentine’s Day (and I still think that!).

Medical Center of the Rockies

After all, February 14 the traditional day of love and hearts, and in the city of Loveland we were opening a hospital where heart care would be a major service. With all those trappings at hand, how could anyone not open a new hospital on Valentine’s Day?

In late 2004 when we announced that Poudre Valley Health System intended to build a hospital at I-25 and U.S. Highway 34—right in the epicenter of population growth in northern Colorado—there were many loud grumblings and complaints from competitors. They claimed another hospital wasn’t needed, that there were already too many hospital beds available in northern Colorado for the number of patients that there are.

Our figures were correct. Our plan was on target. And all has worked out excellently, far beyond our expectations.

The 1,224 employees, 330 volunteers, 453 physicians, and 100 allied health practitioners of MCR have continued to distinguish themselves and the regional medical center, where 118,703 inpatients and outpatients were treated in 2011.

MCR offers a full spectrum of services and specializes in heart and trauma care through the Heart Center of the Rockies and Trauma Center of the Rockies, respectively.

MCR’s surgical services include general, cardiothoracic, orthopedic and neurosurgical trauma, as well as orthopedic, neurosurgery, urologic, and gynecological surgery.

The hospital has two intensive care units; birthing center; newborn nursery; Level II nursery for more critical care; medical, surgical, cardiac, and ortho/spine nursing units; breast diagnostic center; blood donation center; and full-service emergency, radiology and laboratory departments.

In addition, there are two buildings where physician offices are located. The MCR campus is like the proverbial one-stop shop for some patients—see your physician in a medical office building and walk only few paces if you need clinical tests or procedures performed at the hospital.

The MCR campus was designed with accessibility, patient flow and ease-of-expansion in mind. It was also designed with “green” in mind. MCR is one of the nation’s most energy efficient and environmentally sensitive buildings as evidenced by its receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold designation by the United States Green Building Council.

Among the many national awards bestowed upon MCR, the hospital played an integral part in Poudre Valley Health System receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, an honor created by congress to recognize the nation’s top-performing organizations. In 2010, the American Nurses Credentialing Center designated MCR as a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence, the gold standard for nursing practice.

In addition, the surgical intensive care unit and cardiac intensive care unit have each received the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence, an honor that signifies excellent outcomes and high patient satisfaction. Likewise, in 2011 the Emergency Department received the Lantern Award from the Emergency Nurses Association for excellence in emergency nursing care.

I love citing all of the above information. It’s impressive and it conveys that MCR is all about: world-class health care.

Beyond that, what I like best about MCR are the employees, volunteers and physicians and allied health practitioners. They are skilled and committed to the health of the patients they serve. MCR staff members are friendly, compassionate and caring.

In today’s world of medicine, many healthcare providers throughout the U.S. have similar types of medical equipment and treatment tools, but what sets apart the really excellent facilities are the staff members.

When you find a high-quality hospital like MCR or, for that matter, Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, you’ll also find a great group of staff members.

I’d like to give a valentine to each of them!

Rulon

It’s for MCR leading the nation for hospital cleanliness.

The recognition comes from VHA, a nationwide network of 1,400 community-owned hospitals and health care systems. As an important part of the recognition, VHA designated MCR’s excellent housekeeping methods as a Blueprint Leading Practice.

Four of MCR's housekeepers: Dutch Fla Havhan, Mike Grounds, Rick Ramirez, and Sharon Jennings

This means the housekeeping methods used at MCR will be the role model other hospitals can learn from to improve their own services. The information on MCR’s methods for cleaning and for readying patient rooms will soon be detailed on VHA’s website.

To tell you how MCR reached this enviable position, I’d like to step into the past to a decade and a half ago when a new trend quietly slipped into the hospital industry. This brief journey to the past will give you a perspective of how things have changed for the better in our industry.

Back in those days, hospitals came to realize that patients and their families weren’t impressed with room cleanliness, directional efforts to help patients find in-hospital departments and—yes, this one is the foundation of many jokes across the country—hospital food.

In other words, dirty patient rooms, easy to get lost and lousy food!

At the time (and this is still true), competition was strong among the nation’s hospitals, especially in communities where two or more hospitals were located. Using research and focus groups, hospitals learned that for many patients the amenities offered by a hospital were almost as important as the quality of care.

So many hospitals went the route of the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotels: spruce up the look and quality of facilities and offer world-class customer service … and, yes, provide tasty food.

In the hospital industry, the goal became this: Offer amenities that help attract patients to your hospital rather than your competitors.

Back then, Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins was the only hospital in the Poudre Valley Health System. Even though little direct hospital competition existed then, PVH’s leaders stepped up and decided to the right thing to do for patients and their families was to improve amenities.

The hospital launched a hotel-like concierge service and free valet parking service. PVH significantly upgraded its cafeteria into a more appealing café format, redesigned patient rooms from semi- to private rooms, developed family-friendly birthing rooms, improved food quality and broadened menu selections, and, among other successful endeavors, placed a heavy emphasis on maintaining cleanliness by employing high-quality housekeeping staff members.

The latter step—having housekeepers on the staff—is an important point.

Back then (and even today), many hospitals farmed out housekeeping services to private companies. The outcome was less than appealing for the patients of many hospitals—that is to say, patient rooms and other areas were not maintained with high standards for cleanliness. As a result, the issue of upgrading the cleanliness of patient rooms and hospitals landed on the national radar for regulatory agencies.

PVH, though, believed in the high quality of its housekeeping staff and steadily maintained its in-house services. As time and service have revealed, this was the correct move. The quality efforts of PVH’s housekeeping staff continue to receive exceedingly high scores in our ongoing patient satisfaction surveys conducted by an outside agency.

When planning was underway in 2006 for our 136-bed Medical Center of the Rockies that would be built and opened in 2007 in Loveland, leaders of this incoming regional hospital reviewed the success of PVH’s in-house housekeeping staff and decided to follow suit by employing housekeepers rather than contracting services to private companies.

This was definitely the winning strategy. The success of MCR’s housekeeping staff and others involved in readying rooms for incoming patients has been proven time and again by high patient satisfaction scores.

VHA makes its Blueprint selections based upon the results of surveys of Medicare and Medicaid patients treated at hospitals. VHA evaluates hospitals by looking at the survey answer “Always” when patients are given options to describe if the patient rooms and bathrooms in a hospital are always, sometimes or never kept clean.

MCR has the highest percentage of patient satisfaction with cleanliness and leads hospitals in Colorado and throughout the nation.

Once a potential Blueprint candidate is identified, VHA representatives make an on-site visit and interview nurses, nursing aides, environmental health employees, and others to learn about a work process.

So the MCR recognition resulted not only from the feedback from patients, but also from a thorough onsite inspection.

Here’s a look at the work process related to cleaning patient rooms:

Unlike the layout of rooms in most hospitals, MCR patient rooms were purposely designed so in-room linen and supply storage areas are out of the patient’s direct sight. In most hospitals, a patient room’s storage closet for supplies is typically within the direct eyesight of a patient and visitors. We believe, though, that a patient needs to concentrate on getting well, not on having to look at cleaning supplies and linen.

Housekeepers work closely with the nursing staff, patient service representatives and staff members in charge of admitting and discharging patients. As a patient is discharged from the hospital, a network of communication is rapidly rolled out to alert everyone that a room is vacated and needs cleaning so it is available for the next inpatient.

The process is so finely honed that housekeepers enter a room within 10 minutes after a patient departs and, on average, have the room cleaned and ready for the next occupant in an average of 26 minutes. This is an incredibly short period of time to scrub down and sanitize a room, change linens and perform the many other required tasks. But the housekeepers always do a marvelous job!

As with many success stories in the world today, MCR’s success has come through team work; employee initiative and dedication; careful planning and execution of a process; and the commitment to high-quality services by employees and the organization.

I’d like to heartily congratulate and thank the housekeepers at MCR, as well as all of the housekeepers throughout PVHS, for keeping our hospitals and clinics at a high level of cleanliness. Their efforts continue to soar into the world-class realm. Their dedication and work skills enhance the fine reputation of our health system, but, most importantly, they greatly benefit our patients.

Rulon

The University of Colorado Hospital and Poudre Valley Health System announced Jan. 31 that we have completed the formal documents to create a new and unique health system in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West. We have worked diligently on creating this partnership since we announced our intentions in the summer.

Our goal is vigorous, ambitious and extremely important to the health care of patients in our community and throughout Colorado. We will fully integrate the University of Colorado Hospital, the best academic medical center in the nation, with PVHS, one of the best community health system in the United States.

Because of the exceptional talent assembled in the new system, we can collectively accomplish patient-care outcomes that may be unachievable if either of our organizations moved forward alone. Together, we will be the most dynamic, high quality provider of patient care in the Rocky Mountain West and we expect that our new system will become a leader in remaking America’s healthcare system.

The name of the new system will be University of Colorado Health. In selecting this name, we conducted extensive research that determined the name has the highest appeal to patients we serve. In addition, the name makes the most sense when we take into account the much broader patient base that the new health system will serve: all of Colorado and possibly adjacent states.

Our local hospitals—Poudre Valley Hospital and Medical Center of the Rockies, and the University of Colorado Hospital—will retain their names and also be identified as part of University of Colorado Health.

I feel fortunate in being named as the chief executive officer of University of Colorado Health. I will be responsible for overall operation and strategic direction, and I will work closely with the new organization’s 11-member board and Bruce Schroffel, the University of Colorado Hospital president and CEO who has been named the president of the board of directors for University of Colorado Health.

Here’s what you can expect in the future:

The quality of local patient care in our community will be enhanced. Community members will still be treated locally. The new organization will be robust and we anticipate increasing local employment numbers for the healthcare professional and support industries. Our new organization will be far better for our local patients, physicians, staff members, and communities.

I would like to encourage you to learn more by attending one of the community town hall meetings that we will hold:

• 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 7, in the Long’s Peak meeting room at the Medical Center of the Rockies, Loveland.
• 5:30 p.m., Wed., Feb. 8, in the Cafe F meeting room at Poudre Valley Hospital, Fort Collins.
• 5:30 p.m., Thur., Feb. 9, in MCR’s Long’s Peak meeting room.
• 5:30 p.m., Fri., Feb. 10, in PVH’s Cafe F meeting room.
• 5:30 p.m., Mon., Feb. 13, at the Greeley Medical Clinic, 1900 16th Street, Greeley.

For more information on the Jan. 31 announcement, please read the press release and visit the new organization’s website. And please visit our fact sheet to learn more about the new organization and its board of directors.

The creation of the new organization required dedicated efforts by many individuals–employees of the two organizations, the boards for each organization, physicians, and community leaders. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them!

Rulon

Simply put, the future is exciting and full of additional healthcare benefits and options for the people we serve.

PVHS will continue to provide high-quality care that is easily accessible for Greeley and Weld County residents. Our commitment to high quality and easy access is also the same for the other people we serve in the large region that PVHS covers in northern Colorado, Wyoming and southwestern Nebraska.

I have to say, though, that it is critically important to look at the recent past and what’s happening now in the Greeley medical scene to be aware of what may happen in the future.

Because my guest editorial had the usual 600-word limit for guest editorials in the Tribune, I was unable to delve into the historical perspective that I believe is critical. In my editorial I asked readers to come to my blog to learn more of the details about all that is happening in Weld County.

During the last 10 or 12 years, I have received phone calls from dozens of physicians who practice in different medical specialties in Greeley. They all had a similar concern, a major one.

They believed they were being disenfranchised by the Greeley medical establishment—specifically by Banner Health, which manages North Colorado Medical Center and has corporate headquarters in Phoenix—and this, they told me, resulted in their careers, their lives and their families being turned upside down. Many physicians revealed to me that they felt like they were being driven out of the community.

For several years I referred these physicians back to Greeley medical leaders hoping they would promote a solution.

During this same period, Poudre Valley Health System focused on finding collaborative ways to work with local physicians in Fort Collins and Loveland to provide high-quality patient care in our region.

Our collaborative efforts resulted in Poudre Valley Hospital, Fort Collins, being named in 2000 as the first Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence between Los Angeles and Minnesota. Today PVH is one of only 17 hospitals to have received the designation three times in a row. Our Medical Center of the Rockies, which opened in 2007 in Loveland, received the designation nearly the moment the hospital was eligible.

Additionally, during this time PVHS started the first American College of Surgeons-verified level II trauma center in northern Colorado; began the first robotic surgery program in our region; and developed the region’s busiest heart program.

PVHS also became the first recipient and remains the only two-time recipient of the Colorado’s highest quality award, the Peak Performance Award presented by the Colorado Performance Excellence Program. In mid-January, PVHS became the only Colorado-owned and -operated health system to be selected as one of the nation’s top 15 health systems.

The most notable honor was when the President of the United States announced that Poudre Valley Health System was selected to receive the nation’s highest quality award, the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. PVHS is one of only 15 healthcare organizations ever to receive that honor.

While PVHS was distinguishing itself locally, regionally and nationally, the issue of physician disenfranchisement in Greeley continued.

Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it. I encourage you to find any physician who has practiced in Greeley for more than a decade and ask if my assessment is accurate. I believe the chances are excellent that you’ll receive an answer similar to what I wrote above.

A few years ago the physicians with the Greeley Medical Clinic, the largest and oldest multi-specialty medical group in northern Colorado, realized they faced irresolvable issues with Banner Health. They began an exhaustive and objective search for a partner which they believe would work with them to put their patients first.

So that’s how GMC and PVHS linked up. We had fruitful talks and discovered mutual hopes and dreams and goals for high quality care for Greeley and Weld County residents.

In a comparatively short period of time, it became clear that the visions of GMC and PVHS were identical: Patients must come first and the care they receive must be extremely high quality … and the best way to achieve this is to maintain local control over healthcare decisions.

After many in-depth discussions and planning sessions, GMC physicians and PVHS leaders agreed to an affiliation.

This decision led to PVHS expanding its world-class care to Greeley and Weld County. In partnership with the outstanding physicians and staff of GMC in Greeley, we have continued to expand by developing new services, opening medical facilities in Windsor, bringing the Aspen Club and Healthy Kids Club into Greeley, and employing 1,100 Greeley and Weld County residents.

While PVHS has continued to offer more healthcare services to Greeley and Weld County, some vocal and very uninformed pundits have suggested that PVHS began serving the city and county solely to “steal away” or “cherry-pick” patients from Greeley.

Some pundits have said this even as we grow and expand services in Greeley.

Our most recent addition—a full service emergency room and one-day surgery center—will be completed in west Greeley by the fall of this year. We are excited that this project will enhance care and accessibility, and create even more healthcare options for Greeley residents without their having to travel very far from their homes.

The new medical facility is an example of the exact reason why GMC chose to affiliate with PVHS. Their decision was not about market share or budgets or filling patient beds. Instead, it had everything to do with GMC physicians wanting to be decision-making members of an organization that works closely with physicians to accomplish mutual goals for providing high-quality care for their patients.

During these last two successful years since the GMC-PVHS affiliation was formed, the same ill-informed pundits have continued to criticize PVHS by incorrectly portraying us an outsider bent on stealing away patients.

Such an accusation does a great disservice to 79 years of service to Greeley and Weld Country by the Greeley Medical Clinic. If GMC is not Greeley-born and -bred…who is, then?

The process that resulted in GMC stepping away from Banner Health seems to have played itself out all over again last spring, this time with an even more abrupt change.

This occurred when the long-experienced and very distinguished emergency physician group in Greeley was suddenly and surprisingly dismissed from practicing at North Colorado Medical Center. The service these highly skilled physicians provided was nationally ranked and medically respected.

So, once again, a significant number of physicians felt disenfranchised from work and life in Greeley. I heard from many of them.

To continue living in or near Greeley and to remain true to their commitment to serve local patients, many of these physicians elected to join Emergency Physicians of the Rockies, an independent physician group in Northern Colorado. These highly qualified physicians will staff the emergency services part of our center under construction in west Greeley, once again providing the same outstanding emergency services that have distinguished them for years. And they will provide this service while continuing to live and work and raise their children in Greeley…just as GMC physicians have done for generations.

Because the medical leadership of Greeley’s air ambulance was also imbedded in this group of emergency physicians, we elected to ask them to continue providing their outstanding service by creating our own helicopter program. For many years PVHS used the air ambulance service at NCMC because it provided a high quality and trusted service. Our service will now continue with those same medical leaders who have lived and worked in the Greeley community.

PVHS has moved ahead on the air ambulance program because we see a great need and opportunity for regionalized services. Our program, which will start this spring, will feature a helicopter specially designed to safely transfer patients out of such high-altitude areas as Rocky Mountain National Park.

Collaboration with regional providers is the type of relationship that we have always tried to develop and foster. Last year I approached NCMC leaders with the hope that we could also find a way to work together and avoid duplication on the many medical services needed in Greeley, Weld County and the rest of northern Colorado.

Unfortunately, I was told that they were unwilling to meet if the local Greeley physicians were involved. Of course, that type of attitude appears to me to be a driver behind what has happened to physicians in Greeley. Just so you know, we—PVHS—will always work first with physicians in trying to create healthcare solutions in the region.

To return to the focus of the Tribune’s news package … What is the future of health care in Greeley and Weld County?

The answer:

PVHS is there now…and GMC has been there for longer than most of us have been alive. We will continue to work closely with local physicians who have cared for generations of Weld County and Greeley patients. Care will be provided in Greeley and, for Windsor-area patients, in Windsor.

We will provide high quality care. We will make sure patients come first.

We will be there today, tomorrow and far beyond.

Rulon

I’m really looking forward to 2012. Things are going well and I’m excited about the many positive accomplishments that I can make during the year.

First things first, though.

I went cruising on New Year’s Eve with friends. We had a great time. It was awesome to be out of the house and enjoying time with my friends. It’s so good to be  more active.

I even made a trip to the Denver Zoo. I don’t know the last time I was there, but it was a long time ago. I walked a lot and took many pictures. It’s funny, I still had to deal with weight-related comments from jerks, but I didn’t let it bother me. I know where I’m heading.

As of my last visit at the doctor’s office I weighed in at 607 pounds. If you remember, when I had my surgery, I was 725 pounds.

I’ve lost well over 100 pounds. At this rate, I could lose 300 pounds in my first year. It’s exciting and the main reason why I’m looking so forward to this year. I’m getting my life back and I will continue to get it back even more as the year goes on.

I’m noticing some things. I am definitely more mobile. I can walk around a lot more. I have more energy. And I’m eating real food.

I have to make sure I get my protein shakes in the morning—they don’t taste that great—and I still have to make sure I do my instant drink meals through the day. Each is eight ounces and I have to sip them slowly. It takes about 45 minutes to drink one, but at night I eat with the family.

Of course, I can’t eat a lot, but I can eat pretty much what my family makes. If it doesn’t work for me, I switch to a shake. And my family members have been good about helping me out. They buy me sugar-free and low-fat food that’s healthy. Of course, I can’t have anything with sugar in it—except for fruit because those sugars are natural.

I’m very happy with my progress. If you recall, I talked about endless opportunities in my first guest blog.

Those endless opportunities keep me going. My tattooing business is good. There are six of us who work together and we’ll soon have a tattoo party. We call ourselves Wolf Pack Tattoo.

I’m heading to New York in July to spend time with my dad. I couldn’t be happier.

I don’t know exactly where things will go for the rest of the year, but I know it will be better and better. I hope to be working in a shop and out of the house by the end of the year. That’s a huge goal for me.

For those of you who may be thinking about weight-loss surgery, I’d like to offer this advice: Do a lot of research.

You really need to know what you’re getting into. You have to make sacrifices, but, from where I’m at, those sacrifices are worth it. I feel so much better and finally feel like something works.

So, if you are like I was, unable to lose weight through conventional methods, explore giving weight-loss surgery a shot. What are your other options? Your health isn’t going to get any better if you don’t lose weight. That’s your other choice.

Having surgery was the best choice I’ve ever made. And, yes, there have been ups and downs, good days and bad days, but it’s all worth it. I’m happy to share my story and if you want to talk to me about it, give me a call or find me on Facebook.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has something to look forward to in 2012. I know I do.

Shaun

Compared to their peers, systems that earned that distinction saved more lives and caused fewer patient complications, followed industry-recommended standards of care more closely, made fewer patient safety errors, released patients half a day sooner and scored better on overall patient satisfaction, according to Thomson Reuters.

While patients, not awards, are what drives us at PVHS, we always appreciate it when outsiders validate the quality of care Poudre Valley Health System delivers to its patients.

Our press release includes more detail about what the ranking means and how Thomson Reuters calculated it.

Rulon

This is excellent news for expectant families and well-deserved recognition that MCR staff members have taken the special steps necessary to create the best hospital environment for babies and their parents.

MCR joins Poudre Valley Hospital, Fort Collins, and Exempla Good Samaritan, Lafayette, as the only Baby-Friendly Hospitals in Colorado. PVH received designation in November 2009.

To become designated, a hospital must meet 10 criteria that offer mothers the information, confidence and skills necessary to begin and continue breastfeeding their babies.

Appropriate staff members of PVH and MCR underwent additional training. Certified lactation nurses visit each new mother to offer support and counseling. Our Wee Steps program and other breastfeeding support services are readily available.

The Baby-Friendly Initiative USA is a strong advocate of breastfeeding. Many excellent reasons exist for why breastfeeding should be the priority.

Babies and mothers tend to remain healthier and may have fewer serious illnesses. In addition, the baby’s risk of becoming an overweight child goes down with each month of breastfeeding.

Meanwhile, there are environmental and economic benefits—families who breastfeed save money and there’s no need to use paper, plastic or energy for preparing and transporting artificial milks.

With a total of about 2,700 babies born annually at Poudre Valley Health System’s PVH and MCR, we’re proud of our commitment to the health of babies and families. I’d like to extend a special thank you to all of our staff members who made the many extra efforts needed to achieve excellence.

To learn more about infant and maternity care offered by PVHS, please check out our services at PVH and MCR.

Rulon