Rangely

Dr. Casey Aguirre joins crew at Rangely District Hospital, specializes in osteopathy

RANGELY I After five years in Pueblo, completing his residency and working in the Centura Health system, Rangely District Hospital (RDH) physician Casey Aguirre is starting to get the feel of a smaller place.
“You get a little bit less red tape and you can have a more hands-on approach,” said Aguirre, who came on as the hospital’s doctor of osteopathy (DO) last month.

“As much as you want to be efficient and see patients, I also think you get a little bit more time in a smaller community because you’re not seeing quite as many patients per day.”
While Dr. Aguirre has more time for appointments than he’s used to, the learning curve of a rural, critical-access facility has been time-intensive so far, from seeing patients in the clinic to making in-patient rounds and responding to the emergency room.
But once Aguirre’s wife, Ashley, and their three boys, Jackson, Grady and Kasen, arrive this summer, he’ll strike the right balance between home and work. That was critical for him at Centura Health, while a resident at Southern Colorado Family Medicine and as a medical student at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in Erie, Penn.
“The thing that will work for me is that I’ll have my boundaries,” he said. “The most important thing for me is family, regardless of what work is. Without being happy going home, what’s the point of even working? And we’d like to raise our kids in a small town. They love the outdoors; I think it’s an opportunity for us to see if it works.”
Downhill skiing, camping, biking and hiking are among the activities that get the Aguirres moving. And while Ashley is a trained teacher with an early childhood education degree, her time, too, is primarily family-based, especially now that she’s expecting their fourth child.
For Aguirre, the challenge — and pleasure — of medicine lie in helping people take responsibility for their own health. Much of that happens in prevention, before health problems begin or progress.
“I love preventative medicine; you don’t see it enough,” he said. “Diabetes, for instance, is a disease I like to manage because I’ve seen it so much. I tell people that uncontrolled diabetes is worse than HIV. It’s just so bad.”
Rather than dictating their care, Aguirre encourages patients to educate themselves about ways to get and stay healthy.
“I come from the standpoint of tough love when I teach people,” he said. “Somebody will come to me and say, ‘What do I eat?’ and my response is, ‘Your assignment is to go to the library, check out three books on diabetic dieting and tell me what you need to eat and don’t need to eat. Because if I tell you what to do, you’re just going to put it on the fridge and not do it. But when you do it, maybe it’s going to stick.’”
While family practice may be a natural fit for Aguirre’s training in sports medicine, pediatrics and geriatrics, among other interests, a big part of his job now is just observing, taking time to better understand the hospital’s culture and relationship within the community.
Low clinic numbers are one thing Dr. Aguirre hopes will shift over time as doctors Karyl Ting and Tim Hsu get more regular support from himself and providers Shelby Lindsay and Katy Rieves.
The hospital has struggled to offer regular care providers for more than a year, after Dr. Mercedes Cameron left the hospital nearly 18 months ago to undergo cancer treatment, and Dr. Chris Adams resigned last June for personal reasons.
Bringing in locum tenens, or fill-in, physicians to cover those gaps meant that patients often saw several different providers for their ailments.
“I think that in the next year, having Shelby, Dr. Rieves and myself here — pretty much two or three of us here every week — should offer some stability,” Aguirre said. “I tell patients, ‘You should be able to see one of the three of us if you’re willing to wait a week or so, always.’ That’s something that’s important to me, that you’ll always see the same person if you want to wait a little longer, be a little patient.”
Aguirre also hopes to have more clinic time in the future than his current two days per week, a shift that could average out to several dozen more patient visits each month. And although he’s not pushing for large-scale change, being the new man on staff, he has some ideas for how Rangely Family Medicine might evolve.
One is adding practical services, like appointments reserved daily for acute patients. Others are more subtle and long-term, like figuring out how to direct people’s personal and professional interests in positive ways.
“It’s a little bit different here; things get magnified really quickly and interpreted differently,” he said. “I think the thing I’ve observed is that when you have a community that really cares about this hospital and has put a lot of effort and sacrifice to make it possible, you also have people in the hospital who are a part of this community … it gets a little hard for people to know where the personal and professional levels divide. You don’t see that as much in bigger hospitals because you’re not really hanging out with the same people you’re working with.”
Proving to the community that Rangely Family Medicine can provide a breadth of care services should continue to be a main goal of RDH, Aguirre said.
“There are a lot of things we treat; I feel comfortable doing any type of pediatrics to adult medicine to geriatrics,” he said. “If we don’t feel comfortable, we’ll consult. But the majority of the population we see are healthy young kids who need well-child checks and people with earaches and sore throats. We should be more than capable of seeing those patients rather than their having to go to Vernal or Grand Junction or somewhere else.”
Getting people to come or return to the clinic, he believes, will mean figuring out what the community wants, then keeping the aspects that meet those needs and changing or improving those that don’t. That’s no overnight process, Aguirre said, and real change often happens in increments, not leaps. But as long as he sees movement toward growth and improvement, Aguirre plans to be on board.
“I’m fine with progress as long as we’re going the right direction,” he said. “If I see we’re stagnant and not caring, that’s when I’m going to have issues. It’s not huge overhauls you need; you just have to do fine-tuning and tweak things over time. That’s the problem with health care: everybody thinks you need to have these huge overhauls.
“But there are different ways and styles to do health care in every single clinic,” Aguirre said. “You just have to figure out the ways you need to do it for your community.”

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  • It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
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  • It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
  • Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line.  The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale.
Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
  • Read part three of the story of M.T. Streeter in this week’s edition of History Lessons! Find it in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
  • Meeker FFA Chapter members competed at the District Leadership Development Event in Craig, Colorado, this month. Top row from left to right: Eva Scritchfield, Charlie Rogers, Alan Rivera, Trent Sanders, Koy Weber, Orion Musser, Said Rodriguez, Carlos Carrillo, Aidan Tapia, Hayden Garcia, Tristan Rollins, Mathew Willey, Quentin Simpson. Middle row: Sidney Keetch, Aurora Stallings, Sydnie Ross, Ava Nay, Lili Piper, Leah Wood. Bottom Row: Jaicee Simmons, Kailynn Watson, Cody Richardson, Kayla Castillo, Braydin Raley, Autumn Stallings, Aimee Shults, Emily Hamm. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
  • Choose-your-own-adventure…. Hear from our Editor in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
  • A crew from the Flat Tops Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined forces last summer to remove obsolete fences to improve habitat for wildlife. Read the full story and the foundation’s update from their 30th Anniversary meeting in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
  • Black Sulphur Tavern held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for their new business at 364 Seventh St. The space has been renovated with several TVs and games and provides a fun, friendly atmosphere to watch your favorite sports team and enjoy a burger and wings. Owners Frank Maestas and Pat Maestas are pictured with their new staff and Chamber of Commerce representatives Stephanie Hanson, Trudy Burri and Margie Joy. Follow Black Sulphur Tavern on Facebook. Their hours are Wednesday and Thursday 3-9 p.m., Friday 3 p.m. - 1 a.m., Saturday 11-1 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to midnight.
  • The winning teams and individuals for the 18th annual White River Community Association Buy-Fly Fishing Tournament are as follows. Individual top weight catch was Dave Metrovich and longest fish was Kevin Massey. First place team won by Rio Blanco Abstract: Erik Eckman, Adam Parrett, Dave Metrovich and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Second place team was Drake Consulting: Travis Kaiser, John Douglas, Tony Bartolomucci and Bob Brandeberry. Third place team Mr. Rogers and the Hood (accepted by Doug Rogers) Gary Rogers, Mark Beauchamp, Kyle Schutte and Rick Gunter. The white fish have been frozen and will be served at the annual White River Community Association fish fry fundraiser in June.
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week. Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! We appreciate all your continued support!
4 hours ago
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1/9
It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line.  The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale.
Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line. The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale. Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch. See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
Read part three of the story of M.T. Streeter in this week’s edition of History Lessons! Find it in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
Read part three of the story of M.T. Streeter in this week’s edition of History Lessons! Find it in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
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Meeker FFA Chapter members competed at the District Leadership Development Event in Craig, Colorado, this month. Top row from left to right: Eva Scritchfield, Charlie Rogers, Alan Rivera, Trent Sanders, Koy Weber, Orion Musser, Said Rodriguez, Carlos Carrillo, Aidan Tapia, Hayden Garcia, Tristan Rollins, Mathew Willey, Quentin Simpson. Middle row: Sidney Keetch, Aurora Stallings, Sydnie Ross, Ava Nay, Lili Piper, Leah Wood. Bottom Row: Jaicee Simmons, Kailynn Watson, Cody Richardson, Kayla Castillo, Braydin Raley, Autumn Stallings, Aimee Shults, Emily Hamm. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
Meeker FFA Chapter members competed at the District Leadership Development Event in Craig, Colorado, this month. Top row from left to right: Eva Scritchfield, Charlie Rogers, Alan Rivera, Trent Sanders, Koy Weber, Orion Musser, Said Rodriguez, Carlos Carrillo, Aidan Tapia, Hayden Garcia, Tristan Rollins, Mathew Willey, Quentin Simpson. Middle row: Sidney Keetch, Aurora Stallings, Sydnie Ross, Ava Nay, Lili Piper, Leah Wood. Bottom Row: Jaicee Simmons, Kailynn Watson, Cody Richardson, Kayla Castillo, Braydin Raley, Autumn Stallings, Aimee Shults, Emily Hamm. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
Choose-your-own-adventure…. Hear from our Editor in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
Choose-your-own-adventure…. Hear from our Editor in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
4 days ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
A crew from the Flat Tops Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined forces last summer to remove obsolete fences to improve habitat for wildlife. Read the full story and the foundation’s update from their 30th Anniversary meeting in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
A crew from the Flat Tops Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined forces last summer to remove obsolete fences to improve habitat for wildlife. Read the full story and the foundation’s update from their 30th Anniversary meeting in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
5 days ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
Black Sulphur Tavern held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for their new business at 364 Seventh St. The space has been renovated with several TVs and games and provides a fun, friendly atmosphere to watch your favorite sports team and enjoy a burger and wings. Owners Frank Maestas and Pat Maestas are pictured with their new staff and Chamber of Commerce representatives Stephanie Hanson, Trudy Burri and Margie Joy. Follow Black Sulphur Tavern on Facebook. Their hours are Wednesday and Thursday 3-9 p.m., Friday 3 p.m. - 1 a.m., Saturday 11-1 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to midnight.
Black Sulphur Tavern held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for their new business at 364 Seventh St. The space has been renovated with several TVs and games and provides a fun, friendly atmosphere to watch your favorite sports team and enjoy a burger and wings. Owners Frank Maestas and Pat Maestas are pictured with their new staff and Chamber of Commerce representatives Stephanie Hanson, Trudy Burri and Margie Joy. Follow Black Sulphur Tavern on Facebook. Their hours are Wednesday and Thursday 3-9 p.m., Friday 3 p.m. - 1 a.m., Saturday 11-1 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to midnight.
5 days ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
The winning teams and individuals for the 18th annual White River Community Association Buy-Fly Fishing Tournament are as follows. Individual top weight catch was Dave Metrovich and longest fish was Kevin Massey. First place team won by Rio Blanco Abstract: Erik Eckman, Adam Parrett, Dave Metrovich and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Second place team was Drake Consulting: Travis Kaiser, John Douglas, Tony Bartolomucci and Bob Brandeberry. Third place team Mr. Rogers and the Hood (accepted by Doug Rogers) Gary Rogers, Mark Beauchamp, Kyle Schutte and Rick Gunter. The white fish have been frozen and will be served at the annual White River Community Association fish fry fundraiser in June.
The winning teams and individuals for the 18th annual White River Community Association Buy-Fly Fishing Tournament are as follows. Individual top weight catch was Dave Metrovich and longest fish was Kevin Massey. First place team won by Rio Blanco Abstract: Erik Eckman, Adam Parrett, Dave Metrovich and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Second place team was Drake Consulting: Travis Kaiser, John Douglas, Tony Bartolomucci and Bob Brandeberry. Third place team Mr. Rogers and the Hood (accepted by Doug Rogers) Gary Rogers, Mark Beauchamp, Kyle Schutte and Rick Gunter. The white fish have been frozen and will be served at the annual White River Community Association fish fry fundraiser in June.
6 days ago
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