Plans to relocate RFL medical clinic fail

By Stephen Clearheart Johnson
North Forty News

Miramont Family Medicine has pulled the plug on its plans to reopen its medical clinic in Red Feather Lakes.

Having lost its lease on the old facility on Main Avenue at the end of April, the clinic was attempting to reopen in a modular office at the Sawmill Junction site, a commercial development currently under construction.

Miramont CFO Scott Kenyon cited multiple reasons for the decision. "Some of it was financial," said Kenyon, noting that costs were "rising higher than we had budgeted" and that "various delays kept us from opening in a timely fashion."

The goal had been to open by June 1, in time for the busy summer months.

Two items stood out particularly. First, the temporary modular steel building Miramont had moved to the site was rated for a wind load factor of 90 mph. Larimer County code requirements specify a load factor of 136 mph. Solutions to this situation were too expensive, noted Kenyon.

An additional factor was the rising cost of wastewater options. Since the Sawmill Junction site has not yet constructed a leach field, the clinic had intended to rely on a temporary holding tank. Miramont found that the cumulative costs were impractical, Kenyon said.

Like many mountain businesses, the clinic was dependent on summer use to make enough profit to cover the winter months when routine care for local residents does not provide enough cash flow. When Miramont was unable to open in time, "we decided to cut our losses," said Kenyon.

Miramont also operates two locations in Fort Collins and a clinic in Wellington. Its business model is to create other outlying clinics in small towns and rural areas. But, said Kenyon, "Red Feather is a clinic that is not very important to us."

Miramont may reopen the Red Feather clinic when the Sawmill Junction project is completed, said Kenyon. "It is not a closed chapter," he said, adding, "We expect to be back there."

In the meantime, residents formerly getting care in Red Feather may wish to visit the Wellington clinic or the Fort Collins locations. Kenyon noted that computerized patient records enable personnel at any location to access a patient's file at any time.

Dr. Janice Weixelman, who founded the Red Feather Lakes clinic, then merged it with Miramont, will continue to be available at the Wellington clinic.