Big Ideas with Local Impact

Partnering with Aspen Institute

What are the biggest healthcare challenges and opportunities facing the Roaring Fork Valley today?

This summer, Aspen Ideas: Health heads downtown to the Wheeler Opera House with a special three-session series designed for the Roaring Fork Valley community. We’ve tailored topics covered at the festival to issues that hit close to home: longevity, rural healthcare, and wearable health technology. You’ll hear from local and national experts who are taking innovative approaches to some of today’s biggest health challenges—all on the Valley’s homegrown stage.

Join us on June 23 and 24 to learn how big ideas turn into local action. Public tickets are $25 and go on sale June 11 at wheeleroperahouse.com.

The Series

Three sessions, three big ideas

Tuesday, June 23 · 12–1:00 pm

Longevity at Altitude

Living at high elevations seems to pay off. The communities surrounding Aspen have the highest life expectancies in the nation, averaging about 86 years. And recent research has found an association between life at high altitudes and lower risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. But that advantage isn't a guarantee, and there are plenty of things we can do to improve the odds of maintaining lifelong wellness at any altitude. Here is a look at the lifestyle and healthcare tools that can help keep us in peak form.

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Tuesday, June 23 · 5–6:00 pm

Healthcare in the Mountains

Workforce shortages, geographic isolation, and limited access to specialty and behavioral health services are longstanding challenges of providing care in the Roaring Fork Valley. But our rural communities are resilient and creative solutions to the barriers of travel, affordability, and physician scarcity are emerging. Providers are placing more emphasis on proactive wellness and prevention, investing in technology and virtual medicine, and partnering with larger medical systems to provide networks of care to our mountain residents.

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Aspen Ideas Health 2026 speaker Michelle Gelroth, Chief Transformation Officer, Aspen Valley Health

Wednesday, June 24 · 5–6:00 pm

Can You Wear Good Healthcare on Your Wrist?

Wearables that track steps, heart rate, and sleep quality have become commonplace among fitness enthusiasts and others in Aspen. Today's devices go further, offering continuous, personalized monitoring to measure heart rhythm, oxygen levels, and movement patterns. In this health-conscious community, the data can help improve athletic performance, sync with food-tracking apps to highlight the links between diet and energy levels, and provide early warning signals of disease. But how reliable are these technologies? Using them wisely requires that we feel confident in their accuracy, agree on what truly qualifies as medical advice, and protect the value of an effective doctor-patient relationship.

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A Conversation

The Big Ideas in Healthcare Coming to Aspen this Summer

Aspen Institute Vice President Ruth Katz and Aspen Valley Health CEO Richard Becker, MD, came together to discuss how many of the key themes of Aspen Ideas: Health 2026 (June 22–25) relate to providers and patients in the local Aspen community.