Here to Serve You | A Message from CEO Dave Ressler

The rectangular blue sign with the raised white letter H. It precedes highway exits in towns and cities across the country to let you know a hospital is nearby, open 24/7, and waiting to provide necessary healthcare to those in need. Sadly, many small towns have already lost, or are at risk of losing their hospitals. This is thankfully not the case for Aspen Valley Hospital, which receives generous funding support from property taxes and philanthropy. Since 1891, we have been a community hospital existing with the support of and the only purpose of serving our community.

Our commitment to the community is captured in our mission statement: to provide extraordinary healthcare in an environment of excellence, compassion and trust. We live this mission every day, ranking among the best hospitals in the country for our high-quality patient care. Like every hospital, we are there 24/7 when you need us, and we will take extraordinary care of anyone who walks through our doors. But there is more to our commitment, as our Board of Directors envisions it. We want to go beyond helping the sick and injured, to improving the overall health and wellbeing of our community. We aspire to be the healthiest community in the nation.

To us, being a healthy community is about more than living our best lives and having a high quality of life. While these are important and worth our efforts, there is an even greater benefit, which is that a healthier community translates into a lower cost of healthcare. In this way, we can help lower health insurance premiums in our community and make healthcare more accessible for all. We accomplish this in cooperation with the Valley Health Alliance, a partnership with our large employers, primary care physicians from across the valley, our Chambers of Commerce and Rocky Mountain Health Plans.

In this issue, as in all issues, we introduce you to our expanding AVH network of care. We aren’t just a hospital anymore. We continue to strive to provide the specialty services that you, our community, need and deserve to have available locally to improve your overall health and access to care. You will learn about Dr. Ellen Sanders and the innovative lenses that she implants in the corneas of cataract sufferers to not just restore vision, but correct vision—permanently and without contacts or eyeglasses. You will also meet Dr. Etchandy, our optometrist who seamlessly supports Dr. Sanders to provide a comprehensive eye care program. We’ll also tell you about our exciting nurse residency program that just graduated four highly trained and competent nurses who are now caring for patients and helping us fulfill our mission.

We are a hospital, and our staff and physicians of 500 strong are here for you 24/7. We are also much more. Because that is what our community that has long supported us deserves.

Dave