Summary of the latest Estes Park Health board meeting

The ambulance entrance to the Estes Park Health Emergency Department in Estes Park, Colorado. (Dawn Wilson photography)

The Estes Park Health Board of Directors heard updates from EPH CEO Vern Carda and Chief Nursing Officer Pat Samples during the hospital’s final board meeting on Wednesday, April 24.

Carda, who led the strategic planning session for EPH, said the planning process continues to focus on the framework phase. According to Carda, this includes analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the hospital from a business perspective.

Staff, including physicians, administrators, managers and other staff, are currently assessing where improvements and changes can be made to make recommendations to the planning committee.

“We would like to try to have a framework in place by mid-June,” Carda said. “We have been delayed by a few weeks, but we will certainly be doing the tactical planning, business cases and action plans in August, especially as that is when we start our budget planning process.”

Carda also provided an update on the recent visit for the DNV investigation.

DNV, the accrediting association for health care organizations that accept Medicare and Medicaid, visited EPH to review the 12 outstanding items from the 2023 survey. They also rated the hospital for this year’s survey.

Sixty percent of Estes Park Health’s revenue comes from Medicare and Medicaid payments.

According to Carda, all twelve items have been brought back into compliance and the hospital is awaiting this year’s report. He stated that no serious deficiencies were found in this year’s survey, but that DNV has 10 days to return the full results of the visit.

Carda concluded his report by announcing the retirement of two EPH employees, Don Shelley of the information technology team, and Shelli Lind, Chief Human Resources Officer.

Before Samples reviewed the infection prevention program, she added a few points regarding the DNV visit.

“I am confident that with this study we will receive our ISO certification,” said Samples. “In the eyes of DNV, we have a very solid quality program. We have worked very hard over the past three years to get where we need to be. That is a big confirmation that we are going in the right direction.”

Samples added that they know they still have some work to do in terms of documentation and processes. That was part of the feedback that DNV gave to the hospital.

“What was exciting for me was that all eight of our surveyors commented on the attitude of our team members, the happiness of our staff, the joy we have working all day, the joy we have working in a day,” said Samples . “They talked about how confident our leaders were.”

The samples continued by informing the board that the hospital has received their first public health order of 2024. With just two days’ notice, the order goes into effect April 25 and addresses the rise in syphilis cases in Colorado.

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment website, Public Health Order 24-01 requires all health care facilities and medical providers who care for anyone who is pregnant to offer syphilis testing:

• In the first trimester of pregnancy (between 1 and 12 weeks), or during the patient’s first prenatal visit.
• In the third trimester (between 28-32 weeks).
• At the time of delivery.
• When there is fetal death after 20 weeks’ gestation.
• When a pregnant patient goes to an emergency room or emergency room, at the intervals and events described above.
• In correctional facilities, including prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers, at the intervals and events described above.

“This public health measure addresses congenital syphilis in the state of Colorado,” Samples said. “To give you an idea, in 2022 we had five cases in Colorado. In 2023 we had 50 cases with five newborn deaths. And in 2024 we have already had 25 with two stillbirths. It’s out there. Now in Colorado they consider it a pandemic.”

Samples went further to clarify that any pregnant woman accessing urgent care or an emergency department who is in the first or third trimester should have a syphilis test. All employees are being trained on the infection control plan for this order.

Other topics covered in Samples included the restart of ophthalmology procedures after improving an equipment sterilization process and the update on hospice and home care services.

“The reason we moved away from ophthalmology was because there are more complicated requirements in terms of cleaning and the cleaning process. That’s why we had to get a second set of osmosis water,” says Samples. “The safest thing to do was to pause, get everything done and restart.”

For hospice and home care, Samples said they are looking for a new company to take over services for the hospital in June. In the meantime, EPH social workers have helped families find help, including seven families whose loved ones were in the active stages of death. She said a company has come to Boulder to help with IV therapies for those who are immobile, and EPH’s social workers are providing more care than when EPH offered these services.

The final report was from Lind. She stated that the change in the employee benefit plan to make employees fully vested upon hire, which was approved at the April 3 board meeting, continues. Her team is gathering the necessary documents to complete this change as quickly as possible.

Following Lind’s departure, Anna Lipasek will take over the role of Human Resources Manager. EPH will hire an HR Assistant to fill the open position.

The final comments came from Board Chairman David Batey, who provided a brief update on the affiliation process and said EPH remains optimistic that they will achieve their goals in achieving affiliation with the hospital and the community. He could not elaborate further due to the non-disclosure agreement regarding the trial.

Estes Park Health’s next board meeting will be on Wednesday, May 29 at 5:30 p.m

For more information about EPH board meetings, visit https://eph.org/about-us/board-of-directors/meeting-information-revised/.

See more at Estes Park Trail-Gazette