While details about the process of Estes Park Health affiliating with UCHealth were not provided during last week’s EPH board meeting, CEO Vern Carda told the directors his office was involved in one of the most important projects undertaken by staff in the last 50 years.
“Reports, reviews of operational data and legal documents, dealing with attorneys, and analyzation of data is at the forefront of activities surrounding the potential affiliation of Estes Park Health with UCHealth,” Carda said during a five-minute report and subsequent discussion with the board during the Feb. 26 public board meeting held online.
“What’s consuming large amounts of time right now is understanding two of the documents that will govern the organization and allow us to operate as an entity,” Carda explained.
During the past two months, Carda said both EPH and UCHealth had been “poring through legal documents, understanding what they mean, and then crafting suggestions to [determine] positive change that benefits our community, and negotiating those [details] to be ironed into the legal documents for the organization and policy,” said Carda.
“There have been a lot of hours spent understanding, digesting, working with our attorneys, working with other experts, gathering more feedback, taking those ideas, molding and shaping them into things that can work well for the community,” he said explaining that the process of completing due diligence is continuing as EPH answers some clarifying questions posed by UCHealth.
“Some are really administrative, secretarial type things, and others are questions like, ‘Are you going to opt out of the Blue Cross, Blue Shield?’ So we’re going back to answering questions about what we’re planning to do. That process is pretty well off of our plate,” explained Carda who said it is now up to UC Health to analyze and work things out that are needed.
“We’re focusing on the legal documents, the definitive agreements,” said EP Health board chair David Batey. “There’s a lot of work being done on both sides.”
“From my perspective, I certainly would rather slow down and make sure we get the right deal put together that allows Estes Park Health to function as well as possible,” said board member Cory Workman.
“In some cases we might like this to be done tomorrow. But we’re taking time to make sure that what’s coming together is of the most benefit to the Estes Valley and our employees and patients,” he said.
Board treasurer Steve Alper agreed with Workman’s comments. “That’s why, sometimes, you have to come up with solutions for a number of things, and some of them are three-week issues. Both parties have to agree to those solutions. We want to make sure that those solutions are sustainable, so that they keep on working and don’t blow up,” he said.