Ground Breaking Ceremony a Success: Middle Park Medical Center Project offically launched!

Opening Speech Gave Appreciation, Reasoning and Goals
by Kent Whitmer, President of the Kremmling Memorial Hospital Board of Directors

[From his speech given at the groundbreaking ceremony on November 12, 2010]: Good after noon ladies and gentlmen and welcome to the groundbreaking ceremony for Middle Park Medical Center by Kremmling Memorial Hospital District.

The idea for this project has been germinating and building for a very long time. About 10 years ago, an organization known as the Grand County Rural Health Network was formed. The Network is a non-profit composed of concerned citizens and groups that truly care about Grand County's present and long-term health care needs. Kremmling Memorial Hospital District was a charter member and remains a member of the Grand County Rural Health Network.

At the time, studies were conducted by the Network to determine the present and long-term health care needs of Grand County ciitzens. Out of those studies, a number of things were determined:

1. First, it was determined that the county, in general, was and still is, severly deficient in available health care services.

2. As a result of this health care services deficiency, it was found that 90% of the people in Grand County go outside the county for their healthcare needs, which often means traveling more than 100 miles each way to meet those needs; not a good situation from a couple of perspectives: First, people need the availability of quality health care where they live, and second, Grand County needs those dollars spent on health care here in the county.

3. The recommendations from those studies said that a significant facility was most needed in a central location in the county, namely the Granby area.

The conclusions from these studies weren't earth shattering. The big question was who and how to accomplish the task. Many players and ideas were considered. It boiled down to finding the resources and someone to take the risk, and it needed to make economic sense to whoever was that risk-taker.

At the same time as the Network was sorting through this conundrum, IKMHD was struggling to determine a strategy for its own long-term survival and viability. KMHD realized it was not going to survive long term, even with tax dollars subsdidizing it, if it focused only on providing health care within its district.

With this in mind, about five years ago, KMHD purchased Timberline Family Practice, Dr. Rojec's family practice here in Granby. With that purchase it became appareent that it made a lot of sense for KMHD for its own well being, and for the well being of the community in gerneral, to take the lead and fill the health care void illuniated by the studies conducted by the Network.

KMHD began thinking hard about how to accomplish this goal. Over the last five years, that thought process has taken so many twists and turns that, frankly, it's been hard to keep up.

KMHD looked at a number of different possible sites in the Granby area, and different ways to finance the project. With each potential site or financing proposal, there seemed to be insurmountable hurdles and roadblocks and it seemed this project was never going to happen. Then the perfect storm happened.

Granby Ranch was gracious enough to donate the land; KMHD found a way to finance the project; the town of Granby was more than accommodating; and the economy is such that building costs are within our budget. Lightening struck and so did KMHD.

So, we're here today to celebrate the beginning of a total win-win for KMHD and the citizens of Grand County. And I'm here today to personally thank and acknowledge all of the people that cared enough about this project and have devoted endless time and energy toward making it happen. Thank you.

~Kent Whitmer, President of the Kremmling Memorial Hospital Board of Directors