With only 20 days left until closing, Estes Park Health took one more step toward becoming a UCHealth-operated health facility on Monday when Larimer County Commissioners approved a revised service plan for operations.
The unanimous approval of the plan was perfunctory, as the board was limited to voting on procedural compliance required to approve the plan. There was no controversy regarding the approval of the operational transfer, but the commissioners were clear in their discussions about their votes.
“I would seriously encourage the stakeholders, the entities that are looking at this merger, to do what else they can, above and beyond what is required by licensure, what may be required by the Department of Local Affairs,” to address matters of transparency and accountability, said Commissioner John Kefalas.
“Make sure that UCHealth is a good steward of the mill levy dollars, taxpayer dollars,” Kafalas admonished.
Jody Shaddock-McNally echoed Kafalas’s remarks.
“I’m hoping that the hospital, hospital board, and those involved with the continued progression of this endeavor will listen and adhere to the folks who have concerns about transparency and accountability,” Shaddock-McNally said.
Commission Chair Kristin Stephens echoed those remarks, saying, “I do appreciate the fact that people talked about the transparency of public dollars. It’s something that we’re concerned about as commissioners.”
Current Estes Park Health Board members Cory Workman, Steve Alper, and Janet Zeschin attended the meeting along with former board members David Batey and Drew Webb. EPH Attorney David Snow presented the case for EPH to become a subsidiary of UCHealth.
“Partnering with UCHealth allows us to continue, although indirectly, to provide excellent health care,” said Workman, chair of the EPH Board of Directors.
“One of the things that’s important in my mind is that we continue to function as the Park Hospital District, to maintain and monitor the tax dollars that are being used and make sure that they stay in Estes Park to support the Estes Valley Medical Center to take care of our residents,” Workman said.
Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall also championed the transfer.
“We have high community support” for the plan, Hall told the commissioners. “There are some who have brought up issues,” Hall said. However, “I have an enormous amount of trust in UCHealth, and so does the community.” Speaking about the history of UCHealth’s cooperative assistance in times of need for Estes Park, Hall said, “This consummation of a relationship in a formal fashion is the best thing for the community.”
The county’s responsibility, as outlined by state statutes, was to determine that the Park Hospital District, which has been known as EPH, had complied with service plan requirements through a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment application and submitted the required documentation.
In September, the Colorado Attorney General approved transferring medical services from EPH to UCHealth based on a determination that doing so would transfer operations to another nonprofit organization and that operations would not be moved to an out-of-state entity.