Hospital News & Updates

St. Vincent Hospital Foundation Fundraising Update

The St. Vincent Hospital Foundation has been seeing marked success in it’s fundaising efforts, especially since a new board was seated in March of last year.

In addition, SVH Foundation Director Karen Rinehart’s experience and talents are  being realized in a big way, as the community comes together under her philanthropic direction for the sake of maintaining and growing quality healthcare right here in Leadville and Lake County.

Here are some of those successes:

• The Long Term Care Bus fundraising is nearing completion. The goal is $22,000 and the foundation is $4,000 shy of that goal and waiting to hear back about a few grants. 
• Patient Room Remodel: Two more hospital rooms will be remodeled this spring through tribute and commemorative donations of $5,000 per room. A remodeled St. Vincent Hospital patient room.

  These donations bring the Leadville hospital to a  total of 3 rooms to date. There are four more acute care rooms available to remodel in honor or memory of loved ones.  

• To date, the St. Vincent Hospital Employee Pledge Fund has raised $38,000 toward hospital improvements.

This month, the SVH foundation offcially kicked off its “Surgical Suite Remodel 2014” campaign. The physical flow of the present operating room is antiquated and needs to be remodeled to meet modern standards and code.

“The current operating room at St. Vincent Hospital was built in the 1950s,” said Hospital CEO Joyce Beck at a recent educational session for the new project. In addition to the need for a new surgical suite, the entire heating, cooling and humidity systems would need to be replaced, bringing the entire project cost to $1.5 million.  

During the community presentation, Beck discussed future revenue streams the remodeled suite would also provide, noting many visiting physicians unwilling to utilize the current operating room, opting to do surgical procedures at other medical facilities. With new upgrade, patients who currently travel long distances to have surgeries would be able to receive that care here, not to mention keeping that income within the local hospital district.

According to SVH Foundation Director Rinehart, it is the non-profit’s hope that their fundrasing goal will be met by late spring of this year.  For more information on the foundation or to donate: LINK.
Here’s a video about St. Vincent Hospital

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As we enter the New Year I reflect on our accomplishments and the road ahead. While we have moved SVGHD forward, we must continue in order to be the best we can be in the future. 

Recently I have been inspired by our staff members.  They are so dedicated to patient care. Each day they come to work to accomplish one thing, to serve our patients. I see time and time again employees working, sometimes in less than perfect conditions, to make a more comfortable situation for their co-workers and the patients. There are no complaints about their tasks, only a dedication to SVGHD. It is these employees that inspire me to stay focused on our mission to improve healthcare in the region and provide the best possible experience for our patients. 

To that end, you will see changes in the building to make a safer environment through compliance with the Life Safety Code, compliance with the State Department of Health and best practices. With each change, we raise the bar higher and set our expectations a little higher. Once the new level is reached, we will set the bar higher again. 

This month we began our public meetings on our new Surgical Suite. There is a public meeting scheduled at the Elks Lodge next Wednesday from 11:30-1pm on Wednesday the 22. We are providing lunch. This meeting is an informal opening conversation with the community. If you would like to attend please RSVP to Karen Rinehart. We will schedule more meetings in the near future as well. 

Staff evaluations begin in January. Not only job performance but also behavior will be evaluated. This is where culture change begins and the future of SVGHD will be formed.

I am happy to be part of the team at SVGHD, I think we will see changes in 2014 that have not been seen before and will improve how we deliver healthcare and serve our patients. I am proud to work with so many dedicated professionals and I look forward to our future together.

Three Hospital Board Seats Up for Re-Election in May 

Three of St. Vincent Hospital Board’s seats will be up for re-election this May. If you are a county resident and have a passion for Leadville and Lake County and want to serve the community, please consider being on the Hospital Board. Self nomination forms will be available after February 5th at hospital’s front desk and more details will follow.