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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPEC140011 VVMC Neighborhood Q&A.9-22-14VVMC NEIGHBOR INPUT & QUESTIONS BY TOPIC Sept. 22, 2014 TRAFFIC /LOADING 1. If town officials are truly interested in the public welfare as well as alleviating the traffic congestion in Vail, why do they want patients from communities to the west to have to travel to Vail for general medical care, pediatrics, obstetrics, etc. Why not continue emergency and orthopedic care in Vail which, after all, is a ski resort and a summer resort and not a medical hub. Based on Eagle County's population and the dynamics of a medical center, it's not economically or operationally feasible to separate services like obstetrics, for instance, because interdependent services would have to be duplicated. When appropriate, WMC services have been expanded or added to the west, including two urgent cares (Avon & Gypsum), a surgery center (Edwards) and the addition of multiple medical services to the Edwards and Eagle medical campuses (internal medicine, endocrinology and a cardiology clinic, for example). 2. While the hospital moves to greatly expand its operations and fly in more patients - employees, patients, visitor and service traffic will inevitably increase on Meadow Drive. At this time, WMC's patient and employee numbers are not growing dramatically, and we expect those numbers to remain relatively flat or grow slowly along with population growth in coming years. With the creation of a new main entrance on South Frontage Road, there will be a dramatic decrease in traffic on West Meadow Drive as all patient, employee and visitor traffic will access WMC from the Frontage Road. 3. While the WMC Facilities Master Plan moves the ambulance traffic and the main entrance traffic to the South Frontage Road, it does not eliminate traffic to the Steadman Clinic, the Howard Head Clinic, the employee parking lot and commercial deliveries. In truth, the traffic that is being diverted to the South Frontage Road will be less than the traffic that will still be using West Meadow Drive. I would hesitate a guess that the traffic to the Steadman Clinic and the Howard Head Clinic now consists the majority of the daily traffic on West Meadow Drive to the WMC and that traffic will only increase in the future. The creation of a new main entrance on South Frontage Road will remove the traffic listed above from West Meadow Drive. The access point to the West Lot will remain, but will be controlled and limited in use to emergency vehicles (such as fire trucks). 4. Why can't loading /service vehicles access WMC from the west? Bringing loading /service vehicles in from the west would not remove vehicles from West Meadow Drive, it would only re- locate them. Complications with western access include the vehicle /pedestrian conflict that would be created at the pedestrian outlet at the Lionshead Parking Structure and within the Library /Ice Area plaza area. S. The driveway from West Meadow that is alongside Alphorn, Skaal Haus, to Scorpio and the Bank building already sees more traffic than is sometimes safe for local property owners and guests. The proposal that would increase this traffic without including modification and safety upgrades is not acceptable, and a description of what will be "left" after the two year construction is lacking. With the main hospital entrance moving from W. Meadow Drive to South Frontage Road, traffic will dramatically decrease in this area upon project completion. There will be an increase in traffic during construction, and specific safety measures will be discussed during the CUP (Conditional Use Permit) meetings. HELIPAD 6. As I was thinking about the helicopter issue, I started wondering if a nearby helicopter pad was even required for the hospital (or is it just "nice to have "). Why does the VVMC even require /desire helicopter access at all? As a Level III trauma center, VVMC needs medical helicopters to transport patients to more advanced hospitals (primarily in Denver) to save lives and improve patient outcomes. A helipad that can serve VVMC is essential when dealing with time - sensitive, critical care situations. A helipad on -site is proposed to improve existing helipad operations, including reducing the amount of patient transfers and reducing travel time. This question will be addressed in more detail at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 7. I'm not aware of any additional high altitude training requirements for medical helicopter pilots in Colorado or any provisions for medical helicopters as to size or engine power requirements for utilizing Vail landing sites. Shouldn't Vail have minimum established requirements in place? Operational aspects of the proposed helipad will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 8. If helicopter operations in Vail are so routine and safe, why does the Vail Fire Department deploy for each landing and takeoff and the road is blocked off for the existing non -FAA approved landing site? Operational aspects of the proposed helipad will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 9. If the landing site is just a "convenience" for the hospital, shouldn't the City consider a landing zone far away from residential zoned property and condominiums nearby that have multiple stories, possibly impeding ingress and egress of the helicopter landing and takeoff routes? VVMC does not consider the proposed helipad a "convenience ", but a necessity to save lives and improve patient outcomes in necessary situations. The location of the proposed helipad will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 10. What are the limits imposed on medical helicopter landings and takeoffs by the Town of Vail and /or the FAA? Operational aspects of the proposed helipad and regulatory considerations will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 11. Shouldn't the Town of Vail have a noise ordinance in place to limit undue impact of helicopters, truck "Jake" brakes and automobile "boom" boxes? The town does have a noise ordinance in place. Noise aspects of the proposed helipad will be presented at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 12. It seems no one has asked what the medical impact (timeliness of care) that would be encountered if the helicopters had to land on the golf course or down valley at the Eagle airport. Is it medically significant? It might make a difference if the VVMC was a Level 1 or 2 Trauma Center, but it isn't. As a Level III Trauma Center, VVMC is flying patients out to a more advanced trauma center. We are very rarely receiving patients. The time necessary to transport a patient in a critical care /emergency situation is vital and absolutely considered "medically significant" by our expert physicians, trained trauma staff and executive leadership. This topic will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 13. Why is the town and the VVMC so wedded to the helicopter landing on the medical center when it is clearly so disruptive to local residents (and maybe more important, to paying tourists)? The reason to move the helipad onto the VVMC campus is to save lives and improve medical outcomes for people that live in our community, as well as guests who visit our area. The helipad fulfills the hospital's mission to provide superior health services with compassion and exceptional outcomes. And, because of input we've received from the Town of Vail and our neighbors, we know the community truly cares about the well -being of locals and guests who may encounter life- threatening medical situations. The level of disruption (number of trips /year, etc.) will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 14. If the helicopter issue continues (or increases the frequency of landings and takeoffs), what will be the impact on Scorpio and nearby building insurance rates? Do we individually have to take out greater liability policies because the risk has increased and is well known to us? Will the town reimburse us, or at least indemnify our increased risk profile? The proposed helipad will not inherently increase the frequency of medical helicopter trips, and we believe VVMC's new Cardiac Catheterization Lab may actually decrease the need for helicopter transport. This question can best be addressed by property owner's insurance carriers. The question of the town providing re- imbursement is best addressed by the Town. 15. If Vail really wants an expanded hospital complex, wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to build it outside of the main core of Vail? (I know, tax revenues seem to rule their decisions, but have they studied the impact of redevelopment of the WMC into condos or hotel use ?). Re- building an entirely new medical center would be more expensive than expanding the existing facility, and the Town of Vail and the greater community have endorsed and advocated for the hospital to remain in Vail. WMC has not studied the feasibility /impact of re- developing the site into condos or hotels (covenant restrictions on the property would preclude WMC from developing these types of uses). 16. What are the number of days (% of total year) where the snow or wind conditions preclude helicopter operations? What are the number of days where the weather is "marginal" for helicopter operations? To the extent available, information in response to this question will be provided at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 17. What is the ambulance drive time between the WMC and a host of alternate landing sites? Is the delay medically relevant? What alternate landing sites have been considered away from populated Vail core areas? Why hasn't more emphasis been provided on considering these sites? What instructions were given to the consultant to investigate alternate sites? Where is their analysis? Ambulance travel time from Vail to a Denver or Grand Junction hospital is approximately 2 hours, while a helicopter's flight time is approximately 3S minutes. The additional time to transport a patient from the current VVMC Emergency Department into an ambulance, coordinate with law enforcement to block traffic on West Meadow Drive and physically transfer the patient is approximately 30 minutes. The goal of the proposed on -site helipad is to save lives and improve patient outcomes by eliminating ambulance transport, which increases a patient's travel time and number of transfers. Sites further away from WMC have not been considered as these would not eliminate the need for ambulance transport, and would only increase travel time. 18. How close to the safety limits for gross weight is a medical helicopter loaded with an emergency medical person, flight crew, and patient(s)? Operational aspects of the proposed helipad will be addressed at the PEC's October 271h meeting. 19. Will there be nighttime flying restrictions for helicopter operations? (Night flying always increases the risks - especially for helicopters in challenging high - altitude flying conditions). Operational aspects of the proposed helipad will be addressed at the PEC's October 271h meeting. 20. Has anyone ever charted the increased risk of high altitude, high gross weight helicopter accidents as compared to low altitude landings and takeoffs? What studies were consulted? To the extent information is available; this question will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 21. Are CDs available for the deliberations of the PEC and Town Council meetings for those of use unable to make the meetings? Access to recordings of Town meetings is best addressed by Town Staff. 22. What is the liability of the Town of Vail to residents regarding approval of a heliport in the event of a helicopter catastrophe, especially in light of having approved buildings of great height nearby? This question will be addressed at the PEC's October 27th meeting. 23. If helicopter transport is desirable as an option for the Vail community, locating it in a relatively low population dense location (e.g. golf course) does not risk patient outcome and improves safety all around. Locating a helipad a greater distance from VVMC would increase risk to patients. This topic will be addressed at the PEC's October 271h meeting. US BANK BUILDING /MOB 24. Will the new "Medical Professional Building 3 Stories" along the east boundary impact any of the views from Scorpio? Are architectural elevations available? There are no changes proposed to the size of the Medical Professional Building (also referred to as the US Bank Building) as a part of this master planning process. MEETINGS /NEIGHBOR INVOLVEMENT 25. Why is it that meetings important to Vail property owners are scheduled at short notice and usually out of season? Steps have been taken to establish a defined schedule for PEC meetings to review the Master Facility Plan. This schedule will be presented at the PEC's September 22nd meeting and has been distributed via email to interested parties. 26. The short notice scheduling's and cancellations ensured you would not get a representative sampling of the nearby residents - most of which lived out of town and could not change schedules on short notice. But then again, that may have been your intent in the first place. VVMC has made significant efforts to communicate community meetings in a timely manner, and none of our public forums were cancelled or changed on short notice. Steps have been taken to establish a defined schedule for PEC meetings to review the Master Facility Plan. This schedule will be presented at the PEC's September 22nd meeting and has been distributed via email to interested parties. 27. Sequence of events, upcoming meetings, etc. how is this going to work? Steps have been taken to establish a defined schedule for PEC meetings to review the Master Facility Plan. This schedule will be presented at the PEC's September 22nd meeting and has been distributed via email to interested parties. OTHER QUESTIONS 28. What is the real motivation behind an expanded medical center in Vail? VVMC's motivation to expand the medical center is to upgrade the facility to better meet current healthcare standards and to provide superior health services to the community. 29. Is elder care an element of VVMC's future plans? VVMC is supporting multiple facets of elder care by contributing financially to the Castle Peak Senior Care Community, a 64 -bed skilled nursing and assisted living senior care facility to be built in Eagle. Additionally, VVMC currently cares for our elderly (and all ages) via our physicians, Patient Care Unit (PCU), Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Emergency Department (ED), cancer care through Shaw Regional Cancer Center, physical therapy through Howard Head Sports Medicine, cardiology (including a new cardiac cath lab scheduled to open in early 2015), endocrinology, internal medicine, compounding pharmacy services and other. 30. Does VVMC have any existing employee housing units? Yes. 31. How will construction traffic be handled? Construction traffic, staging, etc. is typically addressed during the Conditional Use Permit review process. Construction traffic and other aspects related to construction will be addressed at that time.