Vail Valley Charitable Fund: A doctor and donor’s perspective

I moved to Vail in 1979 for my first job after residency, joining five other family physicians and a radiologist. Seven physicians comprised the entire medical staff of Vail Valley Medical Center (now Vail Health Hospital).

Things were much simpler then. We set our office visit fee equal to the cost of a single-day ski lift ticket ($15 at the time), and we would often exchange goods for services with our patients. Through the decades, medical care (and ski tickets) have become much more expensive and payment for medical services much more complicated. This is particularly problematic for patients with chronic or complex medical problems.

In 1996, this was true for one of my patients, a young mother diagnosed with advanced cancer. Her bills mounted, and the stress of her illness was compounded by her family’s financial pressures. A group of friends sponsored a creative fundraiser that relieved her family’s financial burdens.

Although my patient ultimately succumbed to her cancer, that event was the birth of the Vail Valley Charitable Fund. Since that first event, the VVCF has awarded more than 2,000 grants totaling more than $9 million in financial support for our friends and neighbors experiencing medical crises.

Since 1996, dozens of my patients have received aid from the VVCF. The fund has supported everything from a small child’s heart surgery to an elderly patient’s end-of-life care. I have attended creative fundraising events for friends and participated in VVCF-sponsored triathlons. Hundreds of my clinic’s pediatric patients have received dental care through the fund’s Eagle County Smiles program. And more recently, my patients have received welcomed emotional support from the fund’s Vail Breast Cancer Group.

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As a physician and friend, I have witnessed the remarkable work of the Vail Valley Charitable Fund through the years. Their mantra is, “It’s all about heart!” 

Indeed, the VVCF truly has a heart for the medical needs of your friends and neighbors in our valley and is worthy of your support. I encourage you to join my wife, Martha, and me with an annual gift to the VVCF.

Kent Petrie, MD, is a retired family physician and is a donor to the Vail Valley Charitable Fund. Find out more about the VVCF’s mission at VVCF.org.