Montrose Regional Health just made history on the Western Slope. In a massive push during Heart Health Month, the hospital has expanded expert cardiology services to seven locations, bringing advanced heart care directly to rural towns that have gone years without it.
For thousands of families in Delta, Gunnison, Cortez, Telluride, Naturita, Nucla, and Montrose itself, a heart attack no longer means a terrifying multi-hour drive to Grand Junction or Denver. Help is now minutes away.
New Doctors, New Clinics, New Hope
Over the past 12 months, Montrose Regional Health has recruited four new cardiologists and several advanced practitioners to its team.
These providers now hold regular outreach clinics across the region, seeing patients in their own communities instead of forcing them to travel hundreds of miles for an appointment.
“People were waiting six to nine months just to get in to see a cardiologist,” said Jenn Funk, Cardiology Service Line Director. “That wait is now down to days or weeks in most cases. In some places, we’re saving lives simply by showing up.”
Cutting-Edge Technology Hits Rural Colorado
The hospital didn’t just add doctors; it brought big-city technology to small-town hospitals.
The new ARTIS icono angiography system, one of the most advanced imaging machines available, is now permanently installed in Montrose. Doctors use it to see blockages in arteries with stunning clarity, often catching problems years before they become emergencies.
Even more dramatic is the ZOLL AutoPulse NXT, an automated CPR device that delivers perfect chest compressions for hours if needed. Every ambulance and ER across the system now has one.
In cardiac arrest, every minute without proper CPR drops survival odds by 10%. The AutoPulse removes human fatigue from the equation.
Why This Matters in Rural America
Heart disease remains the number one killer in Colorado, and rural residents die from it at far higher rates than people in Denver or Boulder.
Travel distance is the biggest reason.
A patient in Dove Creek having chest pain used to face a three-hour ambulance ride to the nearest cath lab. Many simply didn’t survive the trip.
That reality ends now.
Montrose Regional Health has become the first rural hospital in Colorado to offer full interventional cardiology services locally, including emergency angioplasties 24/7.
Real Stories from Real Patients
78-year-old rancher Tom Harlan from Nucla suffered a massive heart attack in January. Ten years ago, he would have died on Highway 141.
Instead, the new Nucla clinic had already diagnosed his narrowing arteries months earlier. When the attack hit, the Montrose team was ready. Harlan received a stent within 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital.
“I’m alive because they came to us,” Harlan said. “Plain and simple.”
Similar stories are pouring in from Gunnison, Cortez, and beyond.
The Bigger Picture for Rural Healthcare
Hospital CEO Bryan Hope calls this expansion the proudest moment of his career.
“We’re proving that rural doesn’t have to mean second-class care,” Hope said. “You can have world-class heart care right here in the mountains you love.”
The program has already treated over 2,800 patients in its first year, with numbers growing fast.
As word spreads, people who once drove to Salt Lake City or Denver for routine heart checks are now staying local, keeping dollars and jobs in Western Colorado communities.
Montrose Regional Health has shown what’s possible when a rural hospital refuses to accept the old excuses.
In a state where distance too often decides who lives and who dies, one hospital just redrew the map.
And in doing so, they gave thousands of Coloradans the most precious gift of all: more Februarys with the people they love.
What do you think about this kind of rural healthcare revolution? Drop your thoughts below and share this story with #WesternSlopeStrong if you’re proud of what Montrose is doing for our communities.
