The
obstetrics unit at Mount San Rafael Hospital
in Trinidad rises from the ashes
by Dawn DiPrince and the
Blue Sky Quarterly
It
is time to break out the cigars. Mount San Rafael Hospital
in Trinidad had its first baby on October 25, 2002 - at
least, the first baby in two years.
From the Ave Maria shrine watching over the hospital to
the gold-gilded Celtic cross in the lobby, Mount San Rafael
Hospital is a humble facility with an undeniable spiritual
atmosphere. Paradoxically, this hospital is also known
by school children throughout the region as the sex-change
hospital.
Since November of 2000, this small rural facility had
to close the door on its obstetrical unit. The lack of
obstetrical services forced pregnant women in Las Animas
County to drive 80 miles north to Pueblo or 29 miles south
(and across a mountain pass) to Raton, N.M., to deliver
their babies.
The obstetrics unit closed because it lost its only OB/GYN
doctor who could perform Caesarean sections. As the only
physician in Las Animas county who could deliver babies
both ways, Dr. Joseph Jiminez quit delivering babies because
his health was suffering.
Fortunately for the women of Las Animas County, the story
does not end here. It does have a happy ending.
In May of 2001, hospital CEO Paul Herman sent an S.O.S.
message out to Colorado in the form of a Denver Post article.
The Denver Post wrote a lengthy piece about the woes of
Mount Saint Rafael Hospital.
Through fate, serendipity, divine intervention or whatever
you might call it, two busy medical residents in Grand
Junction read the article in the Denver Post. The article's
plea for help touched something in the two doctors-in-training.
Dr. Michelle Purvis and Dr. Jeffrey Holen picked up the
phone and called Herman. They told him, "We want
to help." The two residents, according to Herman,
made an agreement with the hospital while still in their
residency. The doctors made a commitment to learn obstetrics,
including C-section deliveries. They signed an agreement
to work at Mount San Rafael after they finished residency
in the summer of 2002.
Each of the doctors bring interesting experience and a
spiritual perspective that matches the values of the hospital,
founded by the Sisters of Charity in 1889. Dr. Purvis
worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India. Here, she
helped to care for disabled women and children, orphans,
lepers and the dying.
Dr. Holen graduated from Colorado State University with
a business degree and worked in both the aerospace and
cellular phone industries before finding medicine. He
also participated in mission work in Mexico and inner
city Chicago, where he helped care for the underserved
populations.
Starting in January 2003, Herman will add another OB/GYN
to the obstetrics rotation. Dr. Marci Bowers is, according
to Herman, "very, very well credentialed." Dr.
Bowers, a board certified OB/GYN, currently is the chief
of obstetrics at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.
With three new doctors, Mount San Rafael Hospital is able
to bring new lives into the world - once again.
This
obstetric renaissance is good news for the women of Las
Animas County.
Mount
San Rafael Hospital
Phone:
719-846-9213
Thanks
to the Dawn DiPrince
and the Blue Sky Quarterly
for sharing this article with Trinidadco.com.
The
Blue Sky Quarterly
is a new magazine for Southeastern Colorado!
and you can find them online at
www.blueskyquarterly.com
and read other great articles!