Community Helps Small Town Hospital Turn A New Page
LEADVILLE, Colo. (CBS4) - As rural small hospitals are closed down due to financial problems across the country, small St. Vincent Hospital has bounced back from the brink and is in the middle of a major transformation.
"Five years in the waiting and we are finally building a new hospital facility for Leadville and Lake County," said Gary Campbell, CEO of St. Vincent Hospital.
When Campbell came to Lake County for the job in 2016, the hospital was on life support.
"Let's face it. The stuff that's in this hospital is not modern healthcare technology," Campbell explained.
At that time hospital officials announced they would be forced to close their doors, patients refused to seek medical help there, instead choosing to drive to neighboring Summit or Eagle Counties for a hospital.
A lot has changed since that dark time in the hospital's history.
The rebirth is a credit to the community changing the attitude toward the importance of a hospital operating in this rural high country town.
"I've seen over the last three years a huge increase in the volume of tourists, and when they are here and Lake County, if something happens to them, if they have an emergency we want to be here for them and for our community," Campbell said.
Now a brand new health campus is in the works with 26,500 thousand square feet of modern medical technology. It's something Leadville has not seen since the 1959 when the current facility was opened.
"One message we need to get out there is people need to use our hospital. We need to use it to its capacity," Campbell urged.
A federal low interest loan along with private financing is making this $23-26 million dream a reality.
Wednesday, crews installed meta beams at the muddy construction site next to the current hospital. Once completed, the current hospital building will be used for medical offices, physical therapy and other county and local health related work spaces.
"We are a lot different than we were a few years ago," Campbell added.