Trusting Your Gut | A Message from CEO Dave Ressler

It seems my gut plays a critical role in how I live my life, as illustrated by the many popular phrases such as, “I have a gut feeling, and “That took guts,” and many other variations of the theme that have been common in our English language for generations. I suspect that similar references can be translated from other languages as well.

So, what is it about our “gut” that seems to have clairvoyant abilities, while working to inspire us and make us stronger?

Loosely defined, our guts are essential to our health, and they serve multiple important purposes. As we learn in the latest issue of our Healthy Journey magazine, our gut health powers everything we do, and roughly 70% of our immunity comes from our gut (according to many sources, including the National Institutes of Health). Our gut processes foods to create life-sustaining energy. While the functioning and activity of our guts aren’t typically welcomed topics at dinner parties and social events, we all know how important they are in our daily lives—and how miserable we can be when they aren’t functioning properly. Need I say more?

As you’ll read in Healthy Journey, Dr. Alexandra Kovar has committed much of her surgical training and practice to the treatment of various conditions of the gut, including the dreaded gastric reflux. We are very fortunate she chose our community, and Aspen Valley Health (AVH), for her practice. She provides us with her specialty skills that aren’t available anywhere else between Denver and Grand Junction. In addition, she is an important part of our trauma program at AVH, providing services and surgery to patients in the most dire of circumstances.

Dr. Kovar is yet another example of the kind of talent we attract because AVH is fortunate to have the capabilities of the da Vinci robot, on which Dr. Kovar was extensively trained. As robotic surgery has become the highest standard in surgical practice, highly trained surgeons will only consider communities that offer robotics when evaluating locations in which to practice. This is a reality in modern medicine, that evolving technologies, from robots to advanced imaging capabilities to electronic records (all increasingly assisted with AI), augment the skills and knowledge of physicians and other healthcare professionals.

Sadly, many small hospitals are having a hard time keeping up with the rapid advancements of technology, which are accelerating at an ever-increasing rate. But with the support of our community, AVH is keeping pace. And more. We are one of the first hospitals in the state to acquire the most recent da Vinci 5 robot, for example, and the first critical access hospital in the country to have our own instance of Epic, the gold standard of electronic medical records. And don’t even get me started on the world-class capabilities of our orthopaedics and spine programs that are among the most advanced in the country.

There is a lot that is wrong with healthcare and getting worse in our country these days, especially for rural communities that will be impacted the most by budget cuts to Medicaid over the next several years. But here in our community, we continue to thrive and offer the latest technologies from the most skilled providers precisely because of our generous community that doesn’t settle for less.

So, the next time you are glad you listened to your gut, remember that Aspen Valley Health is here to keep it healthy. Along with the rest of you.

Dave