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Letter: Elimination of Vail Health pediatric doctors will impact children of valley

For the past several years, the children of this valley have been under the round-the-clock care of a team of pediatric doctors who have decades of experience between them, one of whom earned a Fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Colorado.

This team has enabled children who might otherwise have been hospitalized in Denver to remain closer to home, easing the burden on their families and speed recovery. It has also allowed families with children who are dependent on specialized care to live in Eagle County, rather than relocating to a major city.

They have also saved lives, including my daughter’s.



Under the new regime announced in the Friday, Oct. 6, Vail Daily (“Vail Health announces pediatric partnership”), if an emergency arises that requires the care of a pediatric specialist, children who need more than a nurse with an iPad will have to be transferred to Denver.

Now imagine it’s your child. … Now imagine Vail Pass is closed.

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The administration of Vail Health has chosen to ignore letters from every doctor in the hospital, as well as from both family practices in Eagle County, all of whom have stated their opposition to the move.

The administration has also chosen to ignore the people of this valley who built this hospital. In addition to answering ceaseless calls for donations, we put up with some of the highest insurance premiums in Colorado, largely because of this hospital.

The reason we got into the orthopedics business in a serious way was to support departments that the community needs. This community needs, and Vail Health can most certainly afford, the best pediatrics doctors. We have them in our current team of pediatric hospital doctors.

We’re about to lose them, and Vail Health’s administration is trying to sell us a bill of goods that it’s going to be better. It’s not, and I hope the board will step in before it’s too late: Our kids deserve the best.

Jonathan Staufer

Vail


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