Daily Camera: Building the Next Century of Health Care in Boulder County

The Daily Camera recently published a commentary by Dr. Robert Vissers in the Boulder Daily Camera titled, “Building the Next Century of Health Care in Boulder County.” 

The piece highlights the strategic direction of Boulder Community Health (BCH) and reinforces the priorities outlined in our 2026–2028 Strategic Plan. Dr. Vissers thoughtfully addresses the broader challenges facing hospitals nationwide while articulating BCH’s intentional approach to growth, clinical excellence, workforce investment, and maintaining local access to high-quality care across Boulder County.

The commentary also reflects the momentum generated through the successful completion of the BCH Foundation’s Centennial Campaign and the organization’s strong performance in 2025.

We are grateful for the opportunity to share BCH’s long-term strategy to the community. View the article here or in full below.

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By Daily Camera guest opinion | openforum@dailycamera.com | Boulder Daily Camera

PUBLISHED: May 27, 2026 at 5:00 AM MDT

In 2022, Boulder Community Health (BCH) celebrated 100 years of caring for our community. More than a celebration of our past, that milestone reaffirmed our responsibility to the future.

Hospitals today face powerful headwinds: rising costs, workforce shortages, aging communities, and increasing regulatory and reimbursement pressures. As a member of the American Hospital Association national board, I see firsthand how these challenges are affecting communities nationwide. Many health systems are scaling back services or delaying investment at the very moment communities need more access.

At BCH, we are choosing a different path by investing intentionally to meet growing need. Following a strong 2025 marked by growth in key services and completion of the BCH Foundation’s $22 million Centennial Campaign, BCH is well-positioned for this next chapter. We’re building on that momentum with our 2026–2028 Strategic Plan, designed to ensure high-quality, compassionate care remains close to home for generations to come.

Our plan focuses on two priorities: Growth and Excellence. Growth ensures we can meet rising demand. Excellence ensures every patient receives the highest quality care possible.

Growing to meet community needs

For BCH, growth is not about size. It is a response to rising demand and the trust patients and physicians place in BCH as their regional choice for excellent care. Growth allows us to expand access, strengthen specialty services and keep care local.

That growth is shaped by listening to our community and responding with purpose. When our community identified behavioral health, healthy aging and convenient access to specialty care as priorities, we acted by expanding services that reflect those needs.

Boulder County is both growing and aging. Our community health needs assessments highlight increased demand for geriatric services, women’s health, surgical and specialty care. We are seeing rising demand as more patients choose BCH for these services, and more physicians choose to practice here.

To meet those needs, we are investing where we have strong clinical differentiation, expanding programs such as cardiology, geriatrics, neurosurgery, general surgery, women’s health and joint replacement, while advancing coordinated services that support healthy aging.

We are expanding access, bringing care closer to where people live and work. From Erie to Superior, Lafayette and Longmont, we’re investing in convenient access to primary care, specialty care, imaging, lab and outpatient services.

At Foothills Hospital, we are taking a disciplined approach to the future of health care: investing in our hospital where advanced acute care is needed most, while moving routine and preventive care into community settings and preventing avoidable hospitalizations. That includes targeted modernization to improve capacity, flow, and patient experience with upgrades to surgical and perioperative spaces, Emergency Department enhancements, renovations to our Family Birth Center, and redesigned scheduling and care pathways.

Clinical and operational excellence

Excellence means delivering outstanding clinical outcomes, safe and compassionate care, and a seamless patient experience while operating with discipline and efficiency so we can reinvest in our mission and remain strong for the future.

To reduce variation in care and ensure best practices are applied reliably, we are embedding real-time data into daily operations so teams can identify opportunities earlier, improve outcomes faster and remain accountable for measurable performance. In practical terms, that means shorter wait times, clearer communication, fewer preventable complications and a better patient experience.

We are leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and allow clinicians to focus on what matters most: caring for patients. BCH has long been a leader in using the electronic health record to improve the patient experience and continues to invest in robotics, digital workflows, and smarter care pathways that improve quality and give providers more time with patients.

Investing in our workforce and our community

Exceptional care begins with an empowered workforce. Our strategy prioritizes care team development and a culture of continuous improvement. Over the past year, we have increased investments in employee compensation, education assistance, professional development and wellness.

Philanthropy is central to our ability to innovate more quickly than traditional reimbursement models allow. Thanks to our community’s generosity, the completion of the BCH Foundation’s Centennial Campaign accelerates access, strengthens specialty programs, supports workforce development and enables investments that would otherwise take years to realize.

A plan rooted in stability and vision

Our strategy builds on our strong foundation, reinforcing what makes BCH different: local governance, deep community relationships and the ability to respond directly to Boulder County’s needs.

The headwinds are real, but so is our resolve. We are responding to national uncertainty with clarity and purpose by:

• Expanding services in direct response to community feedback,

• Bringing excellent care closer to home across Boulder County,

• Investing in technology that improves quality and gives caregivers more time with patients,

• Strengthening our hospital for advanced care while shifting routine and preventative care to outpatient settings,

• Preserving what makes BCH different: local leadership, accountability, and deep community trust.

A century ago, BCH was founded on the belief that Boulder County deserved high-quality health care close to home. That belief remains unchanged. Our new Strategic Plan ensures the next century of care is even stronger than the first. Together, with our patients, providers, staff and partners, we are building the healthiest future possible.

Robert Vissers, MD, is the president and CEO of Boulder Community Health.