Northern Colorado Spotlight
Columbine Health Systems
We work best when we all work together. Columbine Health Systems is a long-time Northern Colorado business that provides abundant healthcare opportunities. Health Systems Director Yvonne Myers answers a few of our questions about the company and how it helps keep our local workforce strong!
Q: WHAT IS COLUMBINE HEALTH?
We are a long-term care organization located in three Northern Colorado cities — Windsor, Loveland and Fort Collins — in Weld and Larimer counties. We provide care for seniors in various settings, from independent living to skilled nursing facilities.
Our owner, Bob Wilson, has operated Columbine Health for 51 years! He fell in love with the area’s aging population when he was a 21-year-old student at Colorado State University. He always says, “This is my life’s work.” The values he had when founding the company remain the same today.
Q: WHAT STANDS OUT TO EMPLOYEES?
People who work for us feel a personal difference versus if they were employed by a corporate facility. Our healthcare is individual and close to home, and our employees want to take good care of our patients and each other.
Q: HOW DO YOU FURTHER THE MISSION OF WORK IN NORTHERN COLORADO?
We have a robust scholarship program with future nurses at both Aims and Front Range community colleges along with the University of Northern Colorado. We tap into Colorado State University’s great, natural pipeline of talented workers. We partner with Poudre and Thompson school districts so that high school students can complete a 2-year apprenticeship to become Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA). These are only a few examples.
Work in Northern Colorado is vital to our success in hiring qualified workers but also to the success of our region. People want to move and live in a great community like ours, often to eventually retire here. We want to make sure we can take care of them when that time comes.