The smartest thing Eagle Nest Mayor Jeff Carr could do is visit Telluride Medical Center. The Colorado ski town has what Mayor Carr wants, but it is not a hospital. It is what has been called a Community Clinic and Emergency Center. I headed the center for two years, hired to solve some big problems.
The physical building is first. Telluride’s was donated by the Idarado Mining Co., later Newmont. Early on, the center bought a small condominium unit to house physicians. The facility had a drive-up emergency ambulance entrance, a trauma room and X-ray. It once had a generator, but that got sold before I came. But there were no overnight beds, so we had a helicopter pad for evacuation to Grand Junction or Cortez.
Now, doctors. Doctors must see to coverage 24/7, so recruitment. You need a bare minimum of two; three is more civilized. I had a world-class, jazzy town to help recruit, and free lodging and a free ski lift pass. Even then, I had to have nearly half of my shifts covered by locum tenens physicians, that is, short-term slots. Someone, a manager, needs to recruit constantly.