Aspen Valley Hospital District

Description

About Us
Aspen Valley Hospital AVH is a twentyfive bed community hospital that represents the best of two worlds the warmth and friendliness of a small town and the technical expertise of a major medical center In fact we have received national awards for patient satisfaction five years in a row from Avatar International a leading research and consulting firm that administers patient surveys

Our Mission
To deliver extraordinary healthcare in an environment of excellence compassion and trust

History

AVH has a rich and colorful history

that started during the silver mining days In the late 1880s married men were usually cared for at home by their wives but single working menmany of them employed in dangerous occupationsmade up more than half of Aspens population Languishing in their boarding houses the sick or injured died of neglect as much as illness

What Aspen needed was a fullysupported county hospital So in the fall of 1889 the quotCitizens Hospital Committee of Pitkin Countyquot was formed It was decided that the structure should have 20 nice clean welllighted rooms for patients along with rooms for the doctors and nurses Committee members agreed to quot get out among the people and raise fundsquot

The hospital was to be executed in Queen Anne style and was budgeted at 16000 Fundraising efforts were immediately successful The Rio Grande and Midland Railroads each gave a donation of 3000 an anonymous donor gave 1000 and 2000 was given by both the county commissioners and City of Aspen By the summer of 1890 construction was well underway However the fundraising committee was still 7000 short of their goal They began an intensive campaign saying quotNo man who has employment should fail to give a days wages quot or 350

On July 18 an editorial in The Aspen Times said quotIf the men in Aspen who smoke ten cigars a day will curtail their smoke to five for a week each can give the hospital fund 350 and be better off physically and better off financially The sum total of the fund would be increased by about 175 No one would be the loser but the cigar merchant and the government on internal revenuequot

CITIZENS HOSPITAL

By fall of 1891 the Citizens Hospital Association had accomplished its task and Aspens first hospitalquotthe finest on the Western Slopequotwas finished Located between Red and Smuggler Mountains it was the pride of the town and would serve the community for the next 70 years There was one ward for quotsubscriptionquot patients and one for indigent patients a total of 11 to 12 beds

The careful planning and thrifty management of the Citizens Hospital could not prevent the nearly crippling blow that fell only two years after it opened its doors the repeal of the Sherman Act and the demonetization of silver on November 4 1893 By the end of that year 80 percent of Aspens enterprises were bankrupt and thousands of suddenly destitute Aspenites moved on taking with them the hospitals most substantial source of income monthly subscription payments The hospital struggled to remain open

By 1921 hospital receipts were only 500 a month with expenses running at 650 a month A February article in the Aspen Democrat stated quotThe Citizens Hospital is down to its last dollarquot and suggested that since World War I was over the War Chest Fund of 500 should be transferred to the hospital By 1933 the hospital was all but broke and the Association leased it to Aspens only remaining doctor Warren Twining For the next 13 years Doc Twining and his wife Maude ran the hospital almost singlehandedly

Gradually in the late 30s the winds of change began to blow over Aspen A few hearty mountaineers discovered new potential for the surrounding mountains skiing Then industrialist Walter Paepcke made his first visit Enchanted with Aspen he immediately bought property and set about creating his dream of a serene and exclusive cultural and intellectual enclave All this meant people and people for the hospital meant patients

When Doc Twining died in 1946 the hospital found itself without a doctor and without a leaseholder New doctors were recruited and the Citizens Hospital Association turned the reins of the hospital over to the county It was renamed Pitkin County Hospital

By 1957 in spite of a rising census and revitalized staff it became clear that the 65year old hospital was woefully inadequate Yet another fundraising campaign was embarked upon and Aspens second hospital was begun in stages utilizing the old building along with new wings until completion In the fall of 1959 the first new wingbuilt behind the hospital and attached by a rampopened

In 1961 the hospitals administrator decided to hold a contest to rename Pitkin County Hospital Longtime Aspenite Eloise Ilgen picked the winning name Aspen Valley Hospital AVH She won a pass to the Aspen Music Festival for her efforts

MIDDLE HOSPITAL

The last phase of the quotmiddle hospitalquot came in early 1962 when the main portion of the old Citizens Hospital was torn down and replaced with a final wing that joined the two earlier phases The entire town turned out with trucks and shovels to help haul away the rubble But many oldtimers mourned its passing With it went the end of a gentler era in which horses and buggies parked out back the sheets blew dry on the lines homemade gooseberry jam was served for breakfast and fresh fish from the Roaring Fork was served for dinner Those days were gone forever

The middle hospital was a 25bed facility having twice as many beds as its predecessor However the ski industry brought more and more visitors and there was soon the need for an even larger hospital No one had anticipated the incredible population surge that hit Aspen By the late 60s there was a permanent population of 5000 people and an annual visitor total of 250000 people In the winter many of them ended up in the corridors of the hospital waiting for treatment Jan Ortega Director of Physical Therapy at AVH remembers that the middle hospital was hopelessly overcrowded by the early 70s quotPT had a little corner in the ER and that was it Really we had no space at all treatments were done in the hallsquot she said The maternity ward was so substandard due to overcrowding that authorities threatened to close it

In July of 1973 after two years of study the hospital board recommended that a new site for the hospital be selected They cited the high cost and unpredictability of remodeling future hospital needs that would exceed the seven acres at the present site and the fact that in all probability for only 500000 more than a remodel an entirely new facility could be built

Ultimately land was acquired on Castle Creek Road and a hospital district was formed that could issue bonds for financing the bulk of the new building The Aspen Valley Medical Foundation under the leadership of President Edgar Stern Fundraising Chairman Wilton Jaffee Sr and Executive Director Eve Homeyer raised 15 million to help fund the construction of the new building The Foundations theme was quotJoin the 91ersquot echoing the request that the businessmen of 1891 contribute a days pay to Aspens first hospital

On October 25 1977 the new 49bed hospital was dedicated at its new home on Castle Creek Road At the time of the opening the board was comprised of James Bulkley Rose Stanton Wilton Jaffee Sr Russell Pielstick and Dr Robert Oden

Today AVH is considered one of the most sophisticated small hospitals in the country and community pride is as evident as it was in the 1890s An unnamed reporter for the Rocky Mountain Sun said it best in September 1891 The following quote is in reference to the new Citizens Hospital quotThe average citizen acquiesces in the general belief that such an institution built as it was by private subscription and standing with its doors open for afflicted humanity is an honor to the city and a most welcome abode for those in misfortune who enjoy its rare benefitsquot

To receive a full account of the history of Aspen Valley Hospital contact Ginny Dyche for a copy of A Picture of Health at 100