My mother in law lived in Summit for 19 years and faced lung cancer recurrence in 2022. She was a former chair of Summit Seniors and very active in the community. Her diagnosis was unrelated to smoking.

I had to quit my job to provide her care due to a lack of caregivers in the area and the distance needed to travel for radiation. Bristlecone did the best it could with limited resources for home health care and later hospice, but it was only able to provide help once or twice a week. Lenka’s Loving Care provided understandably expensive respite care, but does not provide nurses or certified nursing assistants so is very limited in what it can do. We had to cash pay for all of Lenka’s services as they aren’t covered by Medicare. Without me quitting my job, we would have had to send her to Denver for in-hospital hospice.

The county commissioners continue to refuse to invest in senior living and assisted living in the community. These are basic services! Assisted living could have been tremendously helpful to our family and allowed me to continue working. Most older people have to leave the county for the care, leaving only the healthiest here, which distorts the statistics. 

If you or a relative face a severe illness, your choices are limited in the county. You’ll often need to pay cash for a full-time caregiver or have a relative who does not work who can provide full-time care.

— Jenny Stafford, Breckenridge

I retired in Summit County at age 55. I’m now 76 and still healthy and active. Because I live alone and there’s no continuing care facility in this county, when I had a knee replacement I was told I could be sent to a nursing home as far away as Denver should a doctor determine I need someone else’s help. I had friends lined up to do mail, shopping and check-in, but the threat of being forced to move away was just not acceptable.

A survey two decades ago identified continuing care, rehab care and senior living as needed to keep us in our homes. It still has not happened. There is land right across from the hospital and medical building that could be used, but it is being held in reserve for more important needs. I think that seniors being considered less important is somewhat insulting.

— Sue McHenry, unincorporated Summit County

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