Clinic Merger Brings Alignment & Increased Services
St. Vincent Health CEO Brett Antczak
It is my pleasure to share the progress of St Vincent Health’s efforts in our community. For the last six months, since I have been a part of this organization, we have been actively recruiting additional providers for our primary care clinic. We’ve received dozens of applicants for our physician opening and have been actively vetting them with the assistance of our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Lisa Zwerdlinger.
Efforts of St. Vincent leadership in physician recruitment have been focused and continuous
I assure you we continue to energetically seek another physician to be a part of our community. It’s important that we find someone with long-term ambitions as opposed to someone who will be here a year or two, and then leave. Recruiting physicians to rural locations is a big challenge across the nation.
Merger for SVH and RMFP operations taking place June 1
This week you’ve heard about the merger between Rocky Mountain Family Practice (RMFP) and St. Vincent Health (SVH)as we create the new St. Vincent Family Health Center. This effort unifies resources to provide better primary care services in Lake County.
Sometime prior to June 1, St. Vincent Medical Clinic will move into the RMFP building at 735 Hwy. 24 South. Family medicine and urgent care will continue to be offered at the new St. Vincent Family Health Center and Urgent Care.
The new Family Health Center will be owned and managed by St. Vincent Health. The providers and staff of RMFP will be employed by St. Vincent. When SVH hires another physician, they will practice at the health center. Additionally, 24/7 urgent care will be offered at St. Vincent Health’s new hospital. Telehealth appointments and Rocky Mountain Family Practice’s house call program will not only be maintained, but likely expanded.
Alignment of primary care and specialty services means more access to care for Lake County residents
The clinic merger is all part of the bigger picture of targeting, aligning and supporting increased healthcare services for Lake County. If you remember, last year, we committed to board-certified emergency room physicians in the ER and contracted with CarePoint Health so that our trauma patients receive the best possible care. These board-certified emergency physicians rotate at regionally acclaimed hospitals in Level I and Level II trauma centers such as Swedish and HealthONE, and we now have their expertise in our Leadville emergency room. We also added services such as cardiology and orthopedic visiting clinics, sleep studies, infusions, cardiac rehabilitation and more.
Between now and July 2021 we will add surgical services and more specialists. Those specialists include general surgery, dermatology, interventional cardiology, orthopedic surgeries, ophthalmology, ENT, anesthesiology and pain management. We are working on the addition of nephrology and endocrinology physicians as well.
As residents of Lake County, you have experienced the ups and downs (and near closing) of St. Vincent Hospital. I hope you share in my excitement as we unify additional services and availability for primary care and specialty services to SVH.
Leadville and Lake County residents invited to weigh in
I’m always open to new ideas as we define this “New Day” in healthcare at St. Vincent Health. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
I encourage you to sign up to receive our e-newsletters in the footer of our new website, and follow us on Facebook for the latest updates on St. Vincent Health.
Brett Antczak, MHA CMPE
CEO St. Vincent Health
719-486-7161
