CUSTER COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER REPORTS
GROWING PARTNERSHIP – AND SERVICES
|
The Custer County Medical Center is
expanding its range of care as a working relationship with Salida’s Heart of the Rockies Medical Center continues to evolve. In the meantime, Custer County Public Health has moved out of the clinic building at 704 Edwards Avenue, making room for more visiting specialists at the CCMC clinic. Ongoing negotiations with Heart of the Rockies have already yielded several new medical relationships and services. Dr. Erika Gelgand, an internal medicine specialist in Salida and CCMC’s new medical director, in August, will begin seeing patients in Westcliffe. Also in August, and through Heart of the Rockies, Dr. Ken Wool, a cardiologist who owns a ranch in the Wet Mountain Valley, will begin seeing patients here at the medical center. The CCMC team expects more specialists to begin regular visits to Westcliffe, joining Drs. Gelgand and Wool, as well as orthopedic and eye specialists who have made monthly visits to Westcliffe for several years. Already, local patients can receive a long list of affordable, direct-access laboratory tests, drawn in Westcliffe and tested at or through the Salida hospital – as well as traditionally billed lab services performed by CCMC staff. |
“Many of our patients have already
experienced advantages and savings from our evolving relationship with the Salida hospital,” says Lisa Drew, executive director of the West Custer County Hospital District. She adds that in September, the medical center will migrate patients’ electronic health records to Aprima, a new EHR solution that will integrate with Heart of the Rockies and its growing list of medical specialists. “We continue to look for a full-time physician – a proven professional who will live in our community and care for our patients,” Drew explains. “As we identify candidates for this job and move closer to a written agreement with Heart of the Rockies, we plan town hall meetings to make sure all in our community understand all that’s underway to improve local healthcare and health.” Press Release by Lisa Drew |