Our “Steely” Resolve – February a Big Month for Region’s Healthcare!
February is a big month for healthcare for our communities! It’s Heart Health Month, a time we are extra appreciative for our Cardiology caregivers who have provided excellence in Cardiology care for nearly 20 years. But it’s also a big step in the future of healthcare for our region because of a major milestone for our Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) at River Landing: steel!
In late February, our steel will arrive and will soon be erected. As you can imagine, this will be quite the process for a four-story building. Steel of various sizes and shapes will arrive. The steel is laid out and sorted through to aid the organization and construction process. It reminds me of when we assembled my children’s playset: a large, heavy box was shipped to our house with a dizzying array of wood of seemingly every shape and size! We soon laid out the pieces and labeled them so we knew what we had and could more easily begin the actual construction. It took a few days, but the playset is still used by my children to this day. It was hard work, but it was an investment that has significantly paid off. The Ambulatory Care Center will have the same impact for our communities: this investment will connect people in our region with access to healthcare in a convenient, patiently-friendly location for decades!
It’s an exciting time. Just this past weekend, I visited the site of our Ambulatory Care Center grounds with one of my children. We peeped through the chain link fence as I helped him visualize where the building would be facing, how tall the building was going to be, what services would be inside, and more. I’d encourage you to peep through the fence as well! If you are too busy to peep in person, we’ve made it easy for you: we have added an ACC camera on our website so you can easily follow progress with us. Visit MontroseHealth.com/ACC for more information about the ACC and to ride along this construction journey with us!
On top of having a convenient location for our patients, I think the services inside the building are also generating a lot of enthusiasm. Our Alpine Women’s Centre services – currently spread among multiple buildings due to their tremendous growth – will be moving into this space. We have been fortunate to add new providers such as Dr. Stephanie Killeen to our fantastic Alpine clinicians, and will continue to increase access when we welcome Dr. Kaitlyn Biernacki to the practice in Fall 2023. Many Mountain View Therapy services will move to the Ambulatory Care Center space, giving a fresh rehabilitation space that will be engineered with our patient experience in mind. Our imaging/radiology space at the Ambulatory Care Center will be significant, including a permanent PET scanner and a special area specifically just for women’s imaging. Quality services at a convenient location – these are important ingredients for the recipe that makes a great experience!
MRH has a long history of making investments to give our communities a level of care they would expect from a big city, such as being the first hospital to bring the DaVinci robotic assisted surgical system to the Western Slope back in 2009. These strategic decisions have been driven by thoughtful leadership, starting with our hospital Board of Directors and continuing throughout our hospital leadership and medical staff. We hear it often from people who experience care in other communities and move to Montrose – we are truly blessed with the level of care we have right here in our backyard.
Brad Wiersma, Marketing Director – Montrose Regional Health