Telluride Med Center: Identifying Breath Issues Early

02 Feb Telluride Med Center: Identifying Breath Issues Early

New spirometry testing at the Telluride Med Center helps identify breathing issues early.

How well do your lungs work?

Your primary care provider may now be able to answer that question for you at your next check-up.

Thanks to a collaboration with the Tri-County Health Network and National Jewish Hospital, the Telluride Regional Medical Center now offers spirometry testing, a simple, noninvasive method of measuring lung function and diagnosing respiratory conditions, such as, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

According to National Jewish Hospital, 25% of smokers over the age of 45 are living with an undiagnosed respiratory condition.

“Most people aren’t aware, but COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer,” said Dr. Sharon Grundy, primary care director, Telluride Medical Center. “Early detection and intervention is essential for improving a patient’s quality of life over time.”

In November, Tri-County Health Network dispatched their educational partners from Southwestern Colorado Area Health Education Center to the Placerville firehouse to conduct a one-day spirometry training for surrounding clinics.

Dr. Sharon Grundy, Medical Director of Primary Care, Board Certified in Internal Medicine

Spirometry testing measures how much air a patient can inhale and forcibly exhale over a given period of time to make judgements about current lung function. According to Dr. Grundy, “millions of smokers are living with COPD and don’t know it. We can now work to identify those patients in the early stages of the disease so we can make proactive adjustments to their care plan.”

Smokers, reformed smokers, or anyone exhibiting respiratory symptoms are likely to benefit from spirometry testing. Already, providers at the medical center have detected an asthmatic patient and another with early stages of COPD since they initiated the testing.

Patients interested in spirometry should call the medical center to make an appointment with a primary care provider.

More about the Telluride Med Center:

Telluride Regional Medical Center provides the highest quality, comprehensive Primary Care and exceptional Emergency / Trauma Services. Since 1978 the medical center has evolved, wherever possible, right along with complex healthcare technologies and population growth while remaining within the 10,000-square-foot remodeled residential building, built in the 1960s. 

Currently the Telluride Hospital District is working to secure a site for a new facility to serve the needs of the region today, tomorrow and fifty years into the future.