publisher’sletter
Excellence In Healthcare Welcome to our 8th annual edition of the Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness Magazine and Medical Directory. We are honored to collaborate with McKee Medical Center and North Colorado Medical Center (NCMC), which are part of the Banner Health Western Region, to bring our Northern Colorado readers this timely and informative magazine and medical reference directory. This year the medical directory is even more
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comprehensive. Not only is it a very user-friendly reference and guide to physicians serving McKee and NCMC, organized by specialty and physician name, we have added over 100 other healthcare support professionals with privileges at Banner Health. Look for listings by specialty of Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP). Because many Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners are responsible for the primary care of many patients, we collectively thought it very important to include them in the Medical Directory. In the face of ever-changing healthcare reform, one thing is certain: Marilyn Schock, CEO of McKee, is committed to continuing to strive for excellence in hospital care in her community. As she says, “Our goal is to be the best hospital in the United States.” It is this patient care focus that has led to the completion of the McKee Cancer Center expansion and super linear accelerator addition, the expansion of the robotics program and remodeling of the Breast Center. Continuing this focus, McKee plans to add a full-time palliative care doctor in 2013 to help people with serious illness. Preparing for a challenging future in healthcare, Rick Sutton, CEO of NCMC, says, “We’re focused on limiting the variation of care and we’re standardizing equipment. We believe this leads to better outcomes, and better outcomes and quality care reduces cost.” NCMC and McKee have been recognized with
numerous Healthgrades awards for 2013 and NCMC was also designated as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals in the country according to Healthgrades. One innovative, patient care oriented program NCMC has established is the alliance with Good Samaritan’s Bonell Community longterm care facility. The program has significantly decreased readmission to the hospital by assisting these senior patients with their recovery and medication management. The cover for this issue is a tribute to NCMC’s Fixed Wing Flight Program, which began in 1989 and flies medical personnel to 18 areas in eastern Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas to provide medical care not available in these rural areas. These traveling physicians bring specialty expertise and extend the hospital’s community healthcare outreach on a consistent and reliable basis, often saving lives. We are very fortunate to live in Northern Colorado where we have such exceptional healthcare provided by these two excellent hospital facilities. Even though the future of healthcare may look rocky, we can be assured that Banner Health has plans in place to continue to provide top quality care to its patients. We hope you find this issue interesting and informative and use the Directory throughout the year as a reference. We appreciate partnering with Banner Health and thank the management team, physicians and staff for their contributions. Wishing each of you good health, Lydia@stylemedia.com
Lydia’s STYLE Magazine