It could be late 2025 or early 2026 before a full affiliation with UCHealth is complete according to Estes Park Health CEO Vern Carda. That announcement came late during Wednesday night’s meeting of the EPH board meeting.
It was the first in-person meeting conducted by the board since January. For the past three months, the board has held online meetings due to safety concerns.
Answers to “one or two more questions” related to due diligence still remain to be answered, Carda said. Work on completing those details is progressing at the same time the board of directors works with UCHealth on “documents that will govern the new organization,” Carda reported.
“We hope to get all that work done in the near future then present it to the attorney general,” he said.
According to Colorado law, proposed mergers or affiliations of not-for-profit hospitals must be approved by the attorney general.
Organizations seeking affiliation must provide the attorney general’s office 60 days’ notice prior to closing detailed plans for combining operations, giving the state authority an opportunity to review documentation to determine whether such a partnership is in the best interest of all parties. The attorney general can extend its review period if necessary.
Among the criteria for the attorney general’s review is a public hearing and, except for documents determined to be confidential as a matter of law, release of documents related to the transfer.
Once approved by the attorney general’s office, the parties can complete the acquisition process and begin planning the new organization, Carda said.
“Pick a date for the process to be complete,” Carda said. It could be late 2025 or early 2026 he added.
The news about the affiliation followed the board hearing that the hospital district’s financial reporting for 2024 was completed. The auditor said the financials were in good order.
“I sound like a broken record sometimes when I say this, but they go well because of the financial team being ready and having great record keeping throughout the process. It’s usually indicative that it’s happening throughout the year,” said auditor Dave Studebaker of Eide Bailly LLP, a national public accounting and professional services firm that has served as the hospital’s auditors for the past four years.
According to Studebaker, there were no adverse findings related to any internal controls or issues.
Studebaker credited the EPH board for making decisions leading to controlling expenditures during the past few years and for providing the hospital with an ability to adapt to changes that may be seen in the future.
“That’s definitely something that not a lot of hospitals in rural America are doing,” Studebaker said. “I think you put yourself in a situation where you can be proactive on how you want things to go forward,” he said.
Studebaker pointed out that revenue in 2024 was comparable to that in 2023. “Probably the most notable item on that statement (of net position) itself is an increase in net position of $884,000 while the statement of revenues and expenses shows operating expenses decreased by $400,000,” he said.
“I know there’s been a lot of strategy and diligent financial management around expenses, so I want to commend the team for that awareness and observation to keep those expenses in check while growing,” Studebaker said.
“If you think about it, to grow patient revenue, which is driven by services, usually that is driven also by expenses and provide those services or supplies. And so, to be able to continue to drive revenue growth and keep expenses essentially flat and even slightly decreased, is a very good thing to see.”