Celebrating Our Legacy, Building Our Future | A Message from CEO Dave Ressler

I and over 100 others thoroughly enjoyed our Healthcare in Aspen: A Journey Through Time event a couple weeks ago. On this special night, past and present staff, physicians, board members and the community came together to reminisce, tell stories and to hear Amy Honey from the Aspen Historical Society provide a carefully curated and amusing history of healthcare in our community. Her presentation rightfully began with generations of the Ute tribe seeking the medicinal value of local plants and the bark of Aspen trees, and then she took us on a journey through the decades up to our evolution on Castle Creek Road. All who were present connected with one another and our history in an authentic and tangible way that night.

We listened to panelist members Drs. Barry Mink and Bud Glismann, with Dr. Bill Mitchell from the audience, provide vivid accounts of what their practices were like in the decades past, as they recollected other physicians who likewise made significant contributions to the outstanding healthcare we have today. The stories were entertaining and enlightening, highlighting that, while technologies and facilities have been greatly enhanced over the years, personalized and competent care has been the common thread. Of course, high-quality orthopaedic care has long been a necessity for our active community, and that continues today. Thank you also to Tony Vagneur for his colorful stories of emergency medical services in the early days, both in interviews with Rita Marsh and Amy Honey (for her presentation), and in Tony’s recent column, “Saddle Sore: Wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

An interesting point came when our guest panel was asked about our future challenges. Long-time staff members and AVH leaders, Vicki True and Nettie Kremer, didn’t hesitate in saying “housing!” As an interesting aside, when our hospital campus in Hunter Creek was traded with the county for the current property on Castle Creek Road, in 1976, our former property became the location of the Hunter Long House, one of the first affordable housing projects in Aspen.

Indeed, as has been the case for decades in Aspen, albeit with much more severe conditions today, housing is a high priority for AVH. In August, our Board of Directors approved a 5-year financial plan, including cash reserves and debt, to construct 40 (net new) additional housing units at our Beaumont housing property east of Aspen, and to identify additional projects that would include townhomes and duplexes. Staff, management and physicians alike will need to have housing options as we recruit and retain the best talent. In addition, we recently added 11 call rooms (essentially like hotel rooms with kitchenettes) on the medical campus in Aspen, where staff and physicians who live farther away can stay and be available for patient needs or in between shifts.

We currently utilize 66 owned units and 30 leased units, 22 of which we use as call rooms. Our long-range plan is to have 256 units and the ability to house about 50% of our workforce of approximately 500. This is an ambitious but attainable goal for AVH, with a solid plan to achieve much of the growth in the next five years. It is essential for us, as a people-oriented organization, to provide housing. We won’t be able to continue our 134-year legacy of personalized, high-quality healthcare, provided by local staff and physicians, without it. We also know, as has been the case over our long history, that our community will support us and our people—now and into the future.

We are grateful for that.

Dave