Navigating the Clinical Component
Alpine Women's Centre is a comprehensive outpatient and surgical OBGYN practice supported by a robust certified nurse midwifery team. The incoming physician will carry a balanced practice of clinic, surgery, and obstetrics, with the midwifery group providing strong in-house coverage on the labor and delivery unit.
Practice Model
The practice runs on a collaborative physician and midwife model. Certified nurse midwives are present on labor and delivery 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and handle the majority of low-risk vaginal deliveries. OBGYN physicians serve as second call during their on-call week and are called in for cesarean deliveries, operative vaginal deliveries, high-risk cases, and surgical needs from the emergency department. Patients retain the option to request physician delivery when their OBGYN is on call.
Clinical Snapshot
| Annual Deliveries (hospital) |
Approximately 400 to 500 |
| Midwife Delivery Share |
Approximately 87 percent |
| OBGYN Monthly Deliveries |
9 to 12 across the physician group, primarily cesarean |
| Clinic Volume |
12 to 14 patients per physician per day |
| APP Clinic Volume |
16 to 20 patients per day |
| Surgical Block |
One dedicated day per week, 3 to 5 cases |
| Delivery Threshold |
34 weeks and above (below transferred to partner centers) |
| Call |
One 7-day stretch per month, second call behind in-house midwives |
Clinical Services
The physicians at Alpine Women's Centre provide the full scope of general OBGYN care:
- Routine and moderate-risk obstetric management
- Cesarean deliveries and operative vaginal deliveries
- Comprehensive gynecologic care across the lifespan
- Contraception management including IUD and Nexplanon placement
- Hormone replacement therapy, including bio-identical pellet therapy through the APP team
- Benign gynecologic surgery with a focus on hysterectomy
- Robotic-assisted procedures using the da Vinci Xi platform
- Sterilization procedures
- Preconception and family planning counseling with referral options for services not offered on site
- Collaborative care with an on-site plastic surgeon for breast reconstruction
Maternal Fetal Medicine Support
High-risk patients are managed through a contracted maternal fetal medicine telehealth program with UC Health in Denver. MFM consultation and advanced ultrasound are provided in the Alpine Women's Centre clinic every other Monday, allowing patients to avoid the five-hour drive to Denver for routine follow-up.
Surgical Facilities
Physicians have access to two surgical settings:
- Montrose Regional Health main campus, four operating rooms, 24/7 surgical services
- River Landing Surgery Center, a newer outpatient surgery center located above the Alpine Women's Centre clinic at the Ambulatory Care Center
Board-certified anesthesiologists and CRNAs provide coverage through a contracted private group with on-call teams for both day and overnight cases.
Patient Population
The practice serves Montrose and surrounding counties on the Western Slope:
- Rural and semi-rural population with both younger families and a meaningful retiree population
- Significant Hispanic population; Spanish-speaking medical assistants, clerical staff, and a Spanish-speaking midwife are available to support care
- Payer mix skews Medicaid with commercial, Medicare, and self-pay represented
- Broad catchment reflecting the absence of other OBGYN specialty groups in Montrose; the next closest OBGYN specialty care is in Grand Junction, approximately one hour north
Care Coordination and Referrals
- High-risk deliveries and patients below 34 weeks are transferred to St. Mary's Regional Hospital in Grand Junction; more complex cases transfer to Denver
- Elective abortion services are not performed at MRH, though MRH has no religious affiliation and physicians refer patients seeking those services
- Family medicine obstetricians are not part of the current coverage model
Clinical Support Team
The physician is supported by a full clinic team:
- Dedicated medical assistant for each physician
- Two front office staff and two check-out staff
- Two triage nurses
- Referral coordinator and dedicated surgical pre-op scheduler
Technology and EMR
- eClinicalWorks for outpatient clinic documentation
- Meditech for hospital inpatient charting
- Centricity for fetal monitoring and labor and delivery nursing documentation
- da Vinci Xi robotic surgical platform
Practice Locations
Physicians rotate among three clinic settings:
- Alpine Women's Centre main clinic, 3330 S. Rio Grande Ave, Montrose, inside the Ambulatory Care Center (two years old, 24 exam rooms shared with a co-located plastic surgery practice)
- Alpine Women's Centre hospital campus, on-call clinic at 800 S. 3rd St, used when the physician is on call to remain close to labor and delivery
- Delta Clinic, 311 Palmer St, Delta, for outreach visits one to two times per month per physician (with potential to expand as the group returns to full staffing)