If any name has etched itself into the medical philanthropy of Denver Jewry, it is “Rose.”
Many have carried forward the WW II heroism of Denver son Maurice Rose, beginning with the “Nine Wise Men.”
These were the Jewish founders of General Rose Memorial Hospital, which opened in 1949.
Undreamt of then, the Rose name is now also carried forward by Rose Community Foundation, founded in 1995 from the proceeds of the sale of the hospital.
With that sale, the Rose mission expanded dramatically without altering the primary vision: medicine. The hospital remained linked to the Denver Jewish community, and not just in name. The current wise man who carries the Rose medical mission forward is Casey Guber, president and CEO.
Guber explained the continuing link between the hospital and the Denver Jewish community in an interview with the Intermountain Jewish News.
The latest evolution in the link is the recent renaming of Rose Medical Center as HCAHealthOne Rose.
Is the alignment of Rose within a much larger system an indication of a diminution of the unique Rose legacy? Casey Guber says it’s just the opposite. It is precisely Rose’s alignment with a large system that enables Rose to remain Rose, he says.
Individual, unaffiliated hospitals can no longer thrive, or even survive in the current healthcare environment, Guber says. “Scale” is Guber’s key word.
Medical specialities have expanded and the sophistication and expense of medical equipment have grown so extensively that patient care is best guaranteed with the availability of partners — 101 partner hospitals, in the case of HCAHealthOne Rose.
A need in one facility — capital, nurses, ventilators, for example — can be and is filled by another.
To remain focused on the Jewish values that drove General Rose Memorial Hospital’s founders, the hospital needs to stay abreast of current healthcare realities: growth, sophistication and cost. That requires “scale” or broad access to partners.
“To access health care today needs access to a major organization,” says Guber. “In an ever changing healthcare environment, this is the reality of health care.
“Scale matters more than ever to be able to prop up healthcare systems and to be able to prop up access.”
That is afforded by Rose Medical Center’s affiliation with HealthOne and symbolized by the new name: HCA HealthOne Rose.”We have a bilateral relationship to all of the other 101 hospitals in HCA HealthOne and to the larger organization.
“Other hospitals may have a subspecialty that we might not have.
“Swedish does phenomenal burn care and Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital does phenomenal acute NICU care. We have a network that we can tap into.”
That network matters for patient care.
“Sometimes a doctor goes from one hospital to the other to ensure continuity of care.”
“It’s all pluses to be affiliated with a big system. That’s why health care systems consolidate across the country.”
If the longest journey begins with a single step, the journey of Boulder native Casey Guber, now focused on scale to carry the Rose legacy forward, began with its own small steps.
In fact, not steps at all.
Just watching.
His father Miles Guber was a heart surgeon for 30 years in Denver.
Another uncle, Steve Guber, was a surgeon in California. His father and all three of his father’s brothers were born at Rose.
“I think I got hooked into medicine at an early age,” says Guber.
“I realized I didn’t necessarily want to be a clinical provider, but wanted to help with the systems to support our clinicians so they could deliver exceptional care to our community.”
Guber earned a MHA at UCD.
Part of the degree was an internship. Casey’s was at Rose. “I fell in love with Rose and the culture there and the commitment to quality care.” Very early in his career, Guber met former president and CEO Ken Feiler and Rabbi Jeffrey Kaye, long time chaplain at Rose.
Upon graduation, Guber worked in Wichita, Kansas, them returned to Rose in 2020 as president and CEO.
It was the middle of COVID and his physician wife was eight months pregnant. “We had a two-year old, had to sell a house, buy a house and start a new job,” he recalls, marveling how it all fell together.
HCA HealthOne Rose is special,” says Guber.
“First and foremost, our people and our culture, our front line staff, our physicians. People collaborate. People are dedicated to quality of service. People are really here to serve the community and that’s why the hospital was built and that is our legacy. That’s what our leadership team and our medical staff try and carry into the future.
“We have a world class hospital in our backyard. That is a position we don’t take lightly and want to continue.
“Out of 190 hospitals around the country, we are ranked in the top five in physician engagement.”
Guber delineates the hospital’s connection to the Jewish community even 30 years after the hospital was sold.
“First, the Rose Advisory Board, a community advisory board of 12 people. The chair is Dan Seff. The board meets quarterly.
“It is not a fiduciary board. It helps ensure we have feedback on the perception of Rose and how we can make sure we’re still aligned with the core values of why we were founded and why we’re here.
“The board advises on some of the philanthropic giving that comes from the hospital to programs in the Jewish community.
“We have many other connections to the Jewish community:
• “The annual sukkah lunch at the hospital. We had a terrific lunch this year. JFS and Kavod Senior Life came.
• “Jewish Baby University in conjunction with the JCC.
• “A day of healthcare for seniors at DJDS, and the Athlete of the Year award at DJDS.”
• “And of course Rabbi Jeffrey Kaye’s leadership at the hospital.”
© IJN 2024
