COVID-19
Some Good News | A Message from CEO Dave Ressler
Above all else, Aspen Valley Hospital (AVH) is a community hospital with the singular purpose of meeting the healthcare needs of local residents (full-time, part-time, sometime), and our visitors. In doing so, our staff and physicians derive tremendous satisfaction and professional pride, working as a team to deliver the extraordinary care that our community has learned to expect.
On July 31st, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ranked nearly 3,500 hospitals across the country for the quality of patient-reported experience for 2019, utilizing a 5-star rating system, and they reported the results on the Hospital Compare website. AVH is very proud to report that we are one of only 266 hospitals in the nation to receive a 5-star rating for patient experience, and we are among only four hospitals in the state to receive this prestigious recognition.
In addition, AVH has also been awarded two Guardian of Excellence awards by Press Ganey, recognizing our “phenomenal performance” also based on patient-reported experience. We received these awards for services provided in our Emergency Department and for patients who have been admitted to AVH, during the period April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020. These awards recognize hospitals that reach the 95th percentile, or the top 5%, of over 1,000 hospitals for which Press Ganey monitors patient experience.
Needless to say, we are very proud of these accomplishments, and it is no wonder that pride in patient care is consistently ranked the highest when we ask our employees what matters most to them, with 99% reporting they are proud to tell people they work at AVH. It’s also why 98% of our employees would recommend AVH to their friends and family when they need care. During a healthcare crisis of historic proportions, it is comforting to know AVH stands ready to provide the extraordinary healthcare that we always have.
Speaking of our healthcare crisis, AVH continues to support our Pitkin County Public Health Department by providing medical input from our physicians, through a Medical Advisory Team, and by providing community testing. The good news is that our numbers continue to reflect a lower incidence of viral spread in the community. In fact, the Coronameter for the community continues to indicate we are at a cautious level, leaning toward comfortable, and the AVH capacity matrix indicates that we are comfortable in all three categories (inpatients, daily visits and sick employees). Last week, we tested 200 people for COVID, of which 3 were positive; and over the past 14 days, only 1.86% of our tests have been positive. That is great news for our community, and our efforts toward containment have been validated as successful. Looking ahead, we continue to explore new testing modalities, as part of a three-county and four-hospital regional strategy, that will provide timelier and more accessible testing. This is especially important as our kids head carefully back to school.
On a final note of great importance, we look forward to announcing the specifics of our new partnership with The Steadman Clinic very soon. We are putting the final touches on our mutual plans for the future of orthopedics and bringing cutting-edge research to the upper valley, serving our community and patients from across the globe. Stay tuned and watch for our exciting announcements.
As your community hospital, we are proud to continue our tradition of providing extraordinary healthcare, while we meet the challenges of healthcare today, and plan for the future.
Dave Ressler
CEO, Aspen Valley Hospital