Telluride Med Center: More on New Facility Plans

New providers, off-site administrative offices, expanded conceptual plan for new Mountain Village facility

At a special board meeting, held in Mountain Village last week, the Telluride Hospital District (THD) board of directors approved a temporary off-site move of the Telluride Medical Center’s (TMC) administrative team and the hiring of additional providers to accommodate current patient demands and space constraints. The board also approved an expanded version of the conceptual plan for the new medical center in Mountain Village and to seek underwriting services to evaluate the feasibility of a General Obligation Bond.

 Closing the pre-design phase of the new facility, THD board approved an expanded version of the conceptual plan presented by Mahlum Architects for a 40,000-square-foot building with 8,800 in square footage of vacant and unimproved until needed by THD for future expansion or for use by other health care business synergies.

“The estimated cost for the base model is $21,400,000. “The ‘all in’ cost is estimated at $23,900,000. Initial thoughts are that we would seek $19.6 in some sort of public funding with the remainder coming philanthropically,” according to Gordon Reichard, executive director of the Telluride Medical Center (TMC).

 The three board members present—Larry Mallard, Carol Kammer, and Dan Garner—voted in favor of both requests. Larry Mallard, Chairman of the Telluride Hospital District, held proxies for the two absent board members, Andrew Karow and Richard Cornelius, but elected not to exercise those proxies as the votes were unanimous amongst present board members.

 TMC also released a capacity report as part of the special meeting which revealed that throughout 2014 TMC’s Primary Care department worked at 96 percent of full capacity.

 Capacity, in medical terms, is the maximum number of patients per hour that providers can see within an eight hour shift while providing quality care given space and staffing constraints.

 “Just as a human cannot work at max heart rate it is impossible for PC to continue at max capacity 100 percent of the time. Currently, the PC providers are working on average four to five extra hours to complete their phone calls and paperwork after an 8 hour clinical day,” said Reichard.

 Part of the short term remedy to relive the strain placed on TMC’s current facility in the Depot District of Telluride, THD board approved plans to move the administration staff to an off-site location thus creating an additional 3,000-square-feet for primary care services.

 A unanimous decision was also made to release a Request for Proposal for underwriting services to evaluate the feasibility of holding a bond election at a yet to be determined and mutually agreed upon date.

 According to Reichard, the facility design phase will continue in the following months but that any construction or expense of material funds cannot begin until new facility funding has been secured.

 THD and several independent consultants have concluded that it is not feasible to remain in the current facility and the benefits to the community of moving into a new medical center are paramount. Some of these new benefits will be overnight beds, a procedure room for minor surgery and colonoscopies, new imaging technology, expanded primary and urgent care, room to expand the facility to meet future demands and financial stability from new revenue streams.

 Mountain Village Town Council unanimously agreed in January to convey roughly a one-acre parcel to the THD at diminimus cost. The site—located behind The Market at Mountain Village and Mountain Village Town Hall—was also the preferred site of THD Board, a Citizen Advisory Committee, and an independent consultant hired to evaluate potential sites for a medical facility in the region.

 TMC’s current facility was a residential building, built in the 1960’s, and renovated to serve as a medical facility in 1978. Current life and safety codes are not currently being met and in recent years the region’s health care demands have outgrown the 10,000-square-foot space. The property is currently owned by Idarado Mining Company and is sub-leased to the THD through the town of Telluride.

 THD’s transition from the current facility to Mountain Village is one driven by many forces—current capacity issues, an outdated and out-of-code facility, the dwindling number of buildable sites in the region, the need to be financially viable and a growing demand for new services.