Go west, VVMC

Moving a large part of Vail Valley Medical Center’s oper­ations west is an idea that’s actually a bit overdue.

Medical center officials are talking seriously about mov­ing a big part of the hospital’s operations out of Vail to an as-yet unidentified piece of land somewhere between Avon and Eagle.

If you’ve been to Vail’s hospital lately, you know the facility simply can’t sustain itself in that location. Thanks to our valley’s rapid growth, the hospital has out­grown its current home — something no one could have foreseen 30 years ago.

There are pros and cons to virtually any location, but Wolcott is an intriguing idea. It would be a short drive for people in both Gypsum and Avon, and if a new, 2,600-unit housing development comes to fruition there, a hospital wouldn’t be quite the island that a first look paints it to be. Wolcott makes a lot of sense from a competitive stand­point, too.

Valley View Hospital of Glenwood Springs has long had a presence in Eagle and Gypsum, and the new medical center in Eagle would seem to favor Valley View as it expands its customer base in the downvalley communi­ties. Giving patients a shorter drive than the one to either Vail or Glenwood would give Vail Valley Medical a compet­itive advantage.

As more of the valley’s year-round population moves west, Vail Valley Medical Center needs to keep the patients it has now — and perhaps capture some of the newcomers — if the operation is going to thrive in the future.

Moving most of the operations west would allow the hos­pital to expand its orthopedic surgery center in Vail — and perhaps establish a greater foothold in the world of “med­ical tourism.” And, of course, the emergency clinic has to stay in Vail to serve skiers.

If the hospital can make the move with the same quality and class we’ve seen in the Shaw Cancer Center, our val­ley will be an even better place for the families that now make up so much of our population.

Vail Daily Editorial Board