Elizabeth’s Nemacheck’s commentary about her father’s death speaks volumes about the need for compassionate care when a loved one is dying.
As a physician and resident of the Estes Valley community, I am so sorry for the Nemechek family’s loss. I found the description of the events to be completely horrifying and a warning to every other family in Estes Park and vicinity.
Walter Nemacheck’s passing did not have to have happened in this manner.
Thank you to Elisabeth for providing this information so our citizens can see what an
unnecessary travesty could easily happen to their families.
We live in a wonderful community with a unique population in Estes, made up of a large
segment of middle-aged and retired families. Fifty years ago, the residents of what is the Park Hospital District had the foresight to create a health care facility to serve the needs of the Estes Valley community.
Over time, EP Health has clearly evolved but lost sight of the people it was supposed to serve.
On Nov. 11, the Estes Valley Voice published a commentary, “It is long past time for change at Estes Park Health,” by Thomas Leigh, an emergency room physician who recently retired from Estes Park Health after serving there for nine years.
Leigh wrote, “I believe that this hospital administration and this board of directors have failed all of hospital’s employees, its medical staff, and this community…they have diminished and degraded this hospital…The chief executive officer has also eliminated the nursing home, home health and hospice. In a community with a median age of 61 years—compared with 38 in Colorado as a whole—this is unimaginable…Population demographics in Estes Valley should drive EP Health concerns. This middle age – elderly well insured population needs attention to home health, long term care, and hospice, just the services that have been abandoned by the current regime.”
Doctors often provide second opinions. For the record, Leigh’s words echo and articulate mine.
More Estes Park residents need to be aware of this disgraceful situation.
On Aug. 20, the Estes Valley Voice published an article, “EP Health not at risk of closing, says EPH board chair.” In that article it stated, “In 2023 at Estes Park Health, nearly half of patient service revenues – 49% – were derived from third-party payors (insurance companies); 36% were from Medicare, 13% were from Medicaid, and 2% of patient revenues were self-pay.”
There are reasons to be concerned about how money is being managed at EP Health.
According to financial statements shared at the Nov. 13 board meeting, while boasting that the hospital is “performing $1.5 million better than 2023” the statements reported a total operating loss of $2.226 million from January through September for 2024.
And this is after shutting down in-home hospice care in the Estes Valley as of Dec. 31, 2023.
There are many communities in Colorado with one or multiple hospice programs, some large, some small, but nevertheless offering to meet: Alamosa, Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Broomfield, Burlington, Canon City, Castle Rock, Centennial, Colorado Springs, Cortez, Craig, Delta, Denver, Durango, Evergreen, Florence, Fort Collins, Frederick, Frisco, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Greeley, Greenwood Village, Gunnison, Hugo, La Junta, Lafayette, Lakewood, Lamar, Littleton, Longmont, Loveland, Montrose, Pagosa Springs, Pueblo, Salida, Springfield, Steamboat Springs, Sterling, Thornton, Trinidad, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Woodland Park, and Wray.
There appear to be many CEOs, CFOs, and COOs in this state that know how to manage and
operate health care entities. It is quite clear to me that our well-insured and tax-funded
community should be able to populate and support a well-managed nursing home and hospice.
If the CEO and president of the EP Health Board of Directors are unwilling and or incapable of efficiently providing these services, they should resign and let competent executives take the reins.
My family is so thankful that we had the services of Estes Park Hospice for our mother who had acute leukemia. She passed in our home in Estes in comfort and with dignity before the EP Health hospice was shut down.
Mark Hawkins Adams, MD., is an internal medicine physician with a subspeciality in
gerontology. He lives in Estes Park. Adams received a Doctor of Pharmacy in 1978 and his medical degree in 1983 from University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine in 1986 and has been in practice since 1987 focusing on long- term care, inpatient hospital care, nursing home care, hospice, home health, and care in state veterans’ homes. He is in practice with Rocky Mountain Senior Care in Golden, Colo.
The Estes Valley Voice welcomes opinion commentaries by area business and property owners and by those who live and work in the Estes Valley. The Estes Valley Voice is a nonpartisan news organization and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on the EVV’s opinion policy. To submit a column or to provide feedback to our editors, please email us at news@estesvalleyvoice.com.
Dr. Adams presents compelling arguments and echoes those made by others over the past few months. It’s undeniable that Estes Park Hospital (EPH) should be able to sustain its services. However, the root cause isn’t a lack of business. Within the community, hundreds of millions of healthcare dollars are spent annually by residents and visitors. The crux of the issue lies in market share. EPH currently holds a market share of around 20-30%, while the majority of healthcare dollars from the Estes Valley are spent on the Front Range. While some of this disparity can be attributed to EPH’s inability to provide services like heart transplants and brain surgery, a significant portion represents services they do offer. This begs the question: why is EPH’s market share so low, considering our talented doctors, nurses, and allied staff? The answer lies in poor leadership. When a healthcare organization is poorly managed, it negatively impacts the quality of care, leading patients to seek care elsewhere. Until leadership issues are addressed, people will continue to choose care outside of EPH, resulting in the continued loss of essential services. While UCHealth’s potential acquisition could bring positive change, it’s important to note that they lack a track record of “cleaning house” at acquired organizations. Typically, existing management is left in place and we would not benefit from having a new corporate overseer while keeping the executives who are responsible for our current problems. Also, Drew Webb is up for re-election and if he is retained, he could be selected by his peers as the Chairman. This would be an even greater disaster than David Batey’s tenure. To effect positive change, we must vote for new board members in May. We need Board members who will make the management changes necessary at our hospital. Relying solely on UCHealth to address our problems is not a viable solution.