San Luis Valley Reg Med Ctr

Description

ABOUT US
Expect the unexpected in the middle of our beautiful valley Enjoy life in an area that is as diverse as it is beautiful Balance your work with your lifestyle We are close to skiing hiking lakes national parks fishing rafting and other interesting outdoor activities for all skill and interest levels San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center SLVRMC is not just about bricks and mortar Were about people This includes relationships with all of our customers from our nursing staff physicians and other medical professionals to our patients Excellent technical and team building skills are a must to continue our goals of building outstanding relationships within our medical community

We offer a friendly teamoriented environment where your ideas and opinions are carefully considered and acted upon New graduates are welcome here SLVRMC is an 57bed regional medical center operating a level IV trauma center with valley wide ambulance service and flight for life relations We are located in the middle of the lovely San Luis Valley of South Central Colorado We are the largest medical facility in the valley and work closely with two large clinics one dedicated to specialists and the other to family practice and outreach As our vision states we are committed to making exceptional healthcare personal

History

Some of the following information was taken from Gordon E Gillsons quotAlamosa Community Hospital A History of Servicequot

The San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center began as the Alamosa Hospital owned and operated by Dr Charles A Davlin The hospital was located at 715 Main Street in Alamosa currently the site of Curtis Bros Home Furnishings warehouse On December 7 1927 Dr Davlin turned the hospital over to the newly organized Lutheran Hospital Association In February of 1928 the Lutheran Hospital was open and functioning A sixmonth lease was signed for 125month the hospital furniture and equipment was purchased from Dr Davlin for 2800 and registered nurses were signed on for 90month Hospital charges were meager 10 for major surgery and 5 for minor surgery

In 1935 talk began about the construction of a new hospital preferably on with 50 beds An important break came late in 1937 when the quotCle Longquot site immediately west of the quotEdgemont Additionquot was purchased by the board for 1500

The new hospital was ready for occupancy by the end of September and quotMoving Dayquot was set for Oct 2nd Alamosans were gratified that the new hospital was being removed from downtown and was being placed in a much larger modern fireproof structure on the west end of town

In 1944 hospital president OA Hiller faced failing health and requested the Board of Directors to find new leadership for the hospital After a few temporary replacements the Board decided the hospital needed a permanent fulltime administrator The first name discussed was Elton A Reese of Monte Vista A committee was appointed to meet with Reese on May 23 1946 The committee recommended that the applicant be hired and five days later the Board agreed unanimously So began a new era in the history of Alamosa Community Hospital

Elton Reese began 35 years as hospital Administrator on June 10th 1946 For the next two decades the Alamosa Community Hospital was largely a quotone man showquot Reese was viewed as a stubborn man who couldnt be intimidated especially in the face of criticism Reese was said to have done quota helluva jobquot by many physicians He was a first rate organizer and businessman

The 1970s showed rapid growth among hospital personnel From a figure of 5060 employees in the old building during most of the 1960s the hospital payroll jumped to 160 in 1981 With advanced technology nursing became much more complex creating more duties for the nurses luckily notable contributions were made by members of the Gray Ladies a service organization of Red Cross who have been assisting with patient care services at the hospital since 1961 Another area of spectacular growth occurred in the laboratory as an additional laboratory service became available in 1973 when the hospital purchased an EEG machine

In 1974 the hospital added another large building the San Luis Valley Medical Professional Clinic The Medical Professional Corporation established in 1971 requested that the hospital construct a modern new facility and then lease it to the physicians Most of the clinic was occupied by members of the Professional Corporation PC although Valley Wide Health Services occupied the western end for several years

Jerome Miller was hired as Assistant Administrator in 1976 this gave Elton Reese the opportunity to present the Hospital Board a proposal he would conclude his duties as Administrator in 1978 and assume the new position of Executive Director The Board agreed to this arrangement and the change took place on January 1st 1979 Mr Reese then served on the Board for two and a half years before retiring on June 10th 1981 This ended the remarkable career of Mr Elton Reese the quotone man showquot

Jerome Miller took over the reigns as Hospital Administrator and commented that quotthe burden of running the hospital was immensely by the administrative structure already instilled by Elton Reese

As the San Luis Valley Regional Medical center moved toward the 21st Century the hospital was changing with the times A long awaited 62 million addition to SLVRMC was coming on line in the early 1990s The addition included a new facility to house the ambulance service expanded emergency and examination areas a laboratory and a streamlined admittingdischarge area

The emergency room would be comprised of six separate examination and treatment rooms and the second floor of the new addition would include an OBGYN section complete with a labor room postpartum and birthing rooms The third floor of the addition was dedicated to critical care with a sixbed intensive carecardiac care unit as well as 10 additional medicalsurgical beds

SLVRMC was also improving its ability to transfer and receive the most serious cases by using the fourth level to establish a quothelipadquot for the Flight for Life helicopter eliminating the need for transporting patients to and from Bergman field

The business office was remodeled and parking added New waiting rooms and a chapel were included in the renovation

In an effort to continue improving to meet the communitys changing needs SLVRMC conducted a major community survey in 19941995 The purpose of the polling was to gauge the hospitals abilities to meet residents needs and to find areas for improvement

In September of 1995 the hospital completed installation of the Valleys first Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI The in 1997 the hospital began the 2 million buildout of the north wing of the hospital including the Womens Center The project also included installation of a new 285000 emergency generator replacing the hospitals 30yearold model

The bulk of the 2 million project would see completion of the Womens Center including 7 private labor delivery recovery and postpartum rooms and five private gynecological rooms New furnishings made the rooms seem less institutional Also both Level I basic care and Level II intensive care newborns This phase of the building project included relocation of the Pharmacy and Pathology services to the second floor of the North wing and the addition of the three semiprivate rooms to the third floor

In addition SLVRMC relocated EKG EEG sleep lab endoscopy and respiratory therapy to the third floor

Given the increased incidence of diabetes in the Hispanic population dialysis was seen as a needed service by SLVRMC and the hospital moved quickly to provide that service The North wing was officially unveiled to the public in March of 1998 and in June the hospital unveiled its dialysis unit which allowed SLV patients to receive kidney dialysis right here in the San Luis Valley While the unit had two patients when it first opened it quickly expanded to 12 patients in 2 shifts and then to 23 patients Its growth continues Today the Dialysis department runs three shifts a day 7 days a week and services 42 patients a week

As the 20th Century was closing SLVRMC announced it was acquiring the latest in stateoftheart technology The hospital acquired a new 15 Tesla MRI with a much larger magnet than the previous unit This allowed quicker scans and much sharper more detailed images At the same time the radiology department acquired a spiral CT scanner which played a role in helping SLVRMC become a level III Trauma Center

This year the hospital celebrates 75 years of service the staff of the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center continue to strive to make exceptional healthcare personal