SLVRMC HISTORY 1927-2002: The first 75 years)

Some of the following information was taken from Gordon E. Gillson's "Alamosa Community Hospital: A History of Service".

The San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center began as the Alamosa Hospital owned and operated by Dr. Charles A. Davlin. The hospital was located at 715 Main Street in Alamosa, currently the site of Curtis Bros. Home Furnishing's warehouse. On December 7, 1927 Dr. Davlin turned the hospital over to the newly organized, Lutheran Hospital Association. In February of 1928, the Lutheran Hospital was open and functioning. A six-month lease was signed for $125/month, the hospital furniture and equipment was purchased from Dr. Davlin for $2800 and registered nurses were signed on for $90/month. Hospital charges were meager: $10 for major surgery and $5 for minor surgery.

In 1935 talk began about the construction of a new hospital, preferably on with 50 beds. An important break came late in 1937 when the "Cle Long" site immediately west of the "Edgemont Addition", was purchased by the board for $1500. A fundraising campaign began immediately involving more than 150 progressive citizens of the San Luis Valley. "Living Memorials" were encouraged and an informative brochure was sent out using a "hard-sell" approach with statements meant to impress the public: "You Have a Duty to Perform. That duty is to provide the utmost extent of your means, adequate hospital facilities for this Valley, for your neighbors, your own family, yourself. Every Human Has a Right to Live. Now, in One Unified Effort, this Valley must awaken to the seriousness of the hospital situation. With less than half of the required number of hospital beds for the area we now serve, we must not continue to endanger the lives of those near and dear to us. This Problem Must be Solved Now! There can be but ONE effort, the effort which is NOW being made." The fundraising was not a total success; however, the hospital construction was begun.

With the building nearly completed in July 1938, the Alamosa Daily Courier informed the public that a "final drive" was underway to raise an additional $10,000 to finish the hospital. The new hospital was ready for occupancy by the end of September and "Moving Day" was set for Oct. 2nd. Alamosans were gratified that the new hospital was being removed from downtown and was being placed in a much larger, modern, fireproof structure on the west end of town.

Architecturally, the new Alamosa Community Hospital was unique; it took the shape of the letter "Y". The waiting room, business office, nurses station, surgery, x-ray, laboratory, delivery room, and nursery made op the bulk of the hospital; the two wings that completed the "Y" were patient wards and private rooms. The kitchen, employee dining room, records, and heating facilities were in the basement. The total patient capacity had been increased to 43.

Difficulties faced the hospital during World War II; shortage of personnel was a problem in both public and private institutions throughout the nation. However, a small number of dedicated nurses played a major role in maintaining an effective hospital routine through this difficult time.

The World War II years saw the hospital pushing its capacity. Many times, all rooms were full and patients had to be put in the halls. An even greater problem with overcrowding was the obstetrics area. With twelve babies, the nursery was extremely full; however, sometimes it was necessary to handle even more. During these times, babies had to be tended in many unlikely places, such as cardboard boxes, and dresser drawers. The heavy census of mothers and babies resulted in primarily from the "ten day stay" which was still standard procedure in obstetrics during the 1940's.

In 1944, hospital president, O.A. Hiller faced failing health and requested the Board of Directors to find new leadership for the hospital. After a few temporary replacements, the Board decided the hospital needed a permanent, full-time administrator. The first name discussed was Elton A. Reese of Monte Vista. A committee was appointed to meet with Reese on May 23, 1946. The committee recommended that the applicant be hired, and five days later the Board agreed unanimously. So began a new era in the history of Alamosa Community Hospital.

Elton Reese began 35 years as hospital Administrator on June 10th, 1946. For the next two decades, the Alamosa Community Hospital was largely a "one man show". Reese was viewed as a stubborn man who couldn't be intimidated, especially in the face of criticism. Reese was said to have done, "a helluva job" by many physicians. He was a first rate organizer and businessman.

In the following year, the Lutheran Hospital Association was repeatedly confronted with requests for hospital expansion. Many Alamosans were convinced that the nine year old structure wasn't adequate to serve the needs of the community. Finally in 1951, the decision was made to add on to the hospital. The expansion would include a sizable OB addition to the southwest wing and a kitchen-laundry addition to the North wing.

In 1953, the new "OB wing" was completed. A modern delivery room, an attractive nursery, and a separate labor room were new to the hospital. The upscale OB department was viewed as topnotch by 1953 standards. The kitchen-laundry addition on the northwest wind balanced the OB keeping the building somewhat symmetrical.

However, not everything went well for the Alamosa Community Hospital in the 1950s; the leaky roof had to be repaired, ER doctors were hard to keep long term, and difficulties arose in the maintaining medical records. For a brief period in the 1950s the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals denied the Alamosa Community Hospital its accreditation because many of its charts were inadequate. However, the situation was remedied in the 1960s when Dr. James W. Ruddell became Chief of Staff.

The 1950s and 1960s saw nurses' pay escalating rapidly, mainly as a direct result of supply and demand throughout the nation. In addition, the hospital was becoming a more extensive operation in terms of facilities, equipment, and patients, which resulted in harder work and higher demands placed on individual nurses.

Expansion occurred once again in 1958. This latest addition, built by local contractor George VanIwaarden, included an adequate emergency room, laboratory, and x-ray section. However, the outpatient wing did not remain in the latest condition for long.

Within two years the hospital had expanded again, this time in a more extensive and expensive manner. The most notable feature of the 1959-60 addition was the "new wing" designed to house 26 patients. The striking new wing contained six private rooms, three 5 bed wards, and one 5 bed pediatric ward. Alamosa Community Hospital now had a total of 72 beds. A small front wing, the "administrative wing," was also added at the west side of the main entrance. It included added clerical space, a Board room, and a new office for Administrator, Elton Reese. And finally, the construction added a much-needed boiler room with a completely new boiler.

Although the new expansion alleviated the overcrowding problems, it was by no means solved. The "new wing" reduced the average occupancy rate from 98% in April 1960 to 88% in May and 89% in June. However, anything approaching 90% monthly occupancy normally meant overcrowding. At times patients had to be placed on army cots along the hospital walls.

In 1966, work began once again on a hospital expansion project. An acquisition of property westward from the existing hospital to Blanca Avenue proceeded; funds were acquired from large federal grants, private donations and a Hill-Burton grant; and construction bids were taken making the hospital push further into future expansion plans.

Work began in July 1967 but seemed to progress slowly for the next few months. As the year progressed, the building moved more rapidly toward completion. A Dedication Dinner was set for February 17th, 1968; it became a tribute to the many public-spirited people who had contributed to making the addition a reality. The greatest tribute went to Elton Reese, "the man with a dream" whose idea had become a reality; Mr. Reese had been the driving force behind the entire undertaking.

The first floor of the new hospital consisted of more expansive areas for emergency room, laboratory, x-ray, business offices, waiting room, and a dietary department. The second floor housed the modern surgical suite (which included four surgery rooms and a very up-to-date recovery room), central sterile and supply and a Board room. The third floor consisted mainly of attractive, well-equipped patient rooms, as well as a spacious nurses station. Never again would Alamosa Community Hospital be plagued by crowded conditions for any length of time.

The striking new building made available to the San Luis Valley people in 1968 was easily the largest and most impressive of the many additions to the original 1938 community hospital. Each expansion was a significant achievement in its own time; each construction project required planning, hard work, and money. Success in these enterprises was primarily the product of a close working relationship between the Lutheran Hospital Association, which operated the hospital and the Alamosa Community Hospital Association (Uptown Board) which provided moral and financial support. This unique relationship between the two non-profits functioned effectively because of a strong foundation of trust. When Elton Reese and the Lutheran Board went to the Uptown Board to explain what needed to be done and why, to provide better healthcare, the response was always one of commitment to getting the job done.

The 1970s showed rapid growth among hospital personnel. From a figure of 50-60 employees in the old building during most of the 1960s, the hospital payroll jumped to 160 in 1981. With advanced technology, nursing became much more complex creating more duties for the nurses; luckily, notable contributions were made by members of the Gray Ladies (a service organization of Red Cross) who have been assisting with patient care services at the hospital since 1961. Another area of spectacular growth occurred in the laboratory, as an additional laboratory service became available in 1973 when the hospital purchased an EEG machine.

In 1974 the hospital added another large building, the San Luis Valley Medical Professional Clinic. The Medical Professional Corporation, established in 1971, requested that the hospital construct a modern new facility and then lease it to the physicians. Most of the clinic was occupied by members of the Professional Corporation (PC), although Valley Wide Health Services occupied the western end for several years.

During the 1970s the Emergency Room became an issue of conflict. The physicians felt that the hospital should hire special ER Doctors for "in-house" duty 24 hours, 7 days a week. Members of the medical staff would then be alleviated of the obligation. The Board was unwilling to commit to this, because of the high projected cost; however, a special ER physician was hired to provide full weekend coverage leaving only weekday nights to be covered by medical staff.

An important step, the establishing of the Nursing Scholarship, was taken by the Hospital Board in 1976 at the suggestion of Elton Reese. Another long-range project pf Elton Reese's was begun in 1968, a one year LPN program. The program was originally established by an agreement with Trinidad State Junior College, but was taken over by the Vocational School near Monte Vista in 1973.

Jerome Miller was hired as Assistant Administrator in 1976; this gave Elton Reese the opportunity to present the Hospital Board a proposal: he would conclude his duties as Administrator in 1978, and assume the new position of Executive Director. The Board agreed to this arrangement, and the change took place on January 1st, 1979. Mr. Reese then served on the Board for two and a half years before retiring on June 10th, 1981. This ended the remarkable career of Mr. Elton Reese, the "one man show."

Jerome Miller took over the reigns as Hospital Administrator and commented that "the burden of running the hospital was immensely by the administrative structure already instilled by Elton Reese.

As the San Luis Valley Regional Medical center moved toward the 21st Century, the hospital was changing with the times. A long awaited $6.2 million addition to SLVRMC was coming on line in the early 1990s. The addition included a new facility to house the ambulance service, expanded emergency and examination areas, a laboratory and a streamlined admitting/discharge area.

The emergency room would be comprised of six separate examination and treatment rooms, and the second floor of the new addition would include an OB/GYN section complete with a labor room, postpartum and birthing rooms. The third floor of the addition was dedicated to critical care, with a six-bed intensive care/cardiac care unit, as well as 10 additional medical/surgical beds.

SLVRMC was also improving its ability to transfer and receive the most serious cases, by using the fourth level to establish a "helipad" for the Flight for Life helicopter, eliminating the need for transporting patients to and from Bergman field.

The business office was remodeled and parking added. New waiting rooms and a chapel were included in the renovation.

In an effort to continue improving to meet the community's changing needs, SLVRMC conducted a major community survey in 1994-1995. The purpose of the polling was to gauge the hospital's abilities to meet residents' needs, and to find areas for improvement.

In September of 1995, the hospital completed installation of the Valley's first Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The in 1997, the hospital began the $2 million build-out of the north wing of the hospital, including the Women's Center. The project also included installation of a new, $285,000 emergency generator, replacing the hospital's 30-year-old model.

The bulk of the $2 million project would see completion of the Women's Center, including 7 private labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, and five private gynecological rooms. New furnishings made the rooms seem less institutional. Also both Level I (basic care), and Level II (intensive care) newborns. This phase of the building project included relocation of the Pharmacy and Pathology services to the second floor of the North wing, and the addition of the three semi-private rooms to the third floor.

In addition, SLVRMC relocated EKG, EEG, sleep lab endoscopy and respiratory therapy to the third floor.

Given the increased incidence of diabetes in the Hispanic population, dialysis was seen as a needed service by SLVRMC, and the hospital moved quickly to provide that service. The North wing was officially unveiled to the public in March of 1998, and in June the hospital unveiled its dialysis unit, which allowed SLV patients to receive kidney dialysis right here in the San Luis Valley. While the unit had two patients when it first opened, it quickly expanded to 12 patients in 2 shifts, and then to 23 patients. Its growth continues. Today the Dialysis department runs three shifts a day, 7 days a week and services 42 patients a week.

As the 20th Century was closing, SLVRMC announced it was acquiring the latest in state-of-the-art technology. The hospital acquired a new 1.5 Tesla MRI with a much larger magnet than the previous unit. This allowed quicker scans and much sharper, more detailed images. At the same time, the radiology department acquired a spiral CT scanner, which played a role in helping SLVRMC become a level III Trauma Center.

This year the hospital celebrates 75 years of service; the staff of the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center continue to strive to make exceptional healthcare personal.

Last Modified: April 23, 2007 1:10 PM