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AdventHealth – Louisville, Colorado … We are proud to announce that AdventHealth Avista’s emergency room has received the Pediatric Advanced COPPER recognition! The Colorado Pediatric Preparedness for the Emergency Room (COPPER) is a voluntary pediatric readiness recognition program for Colorado emergency departments. Its goal is to ensure the delivery of safe, competent, and effective pediatric care by providing resources, support, guidance, and site verification.

Avista is the first AdventHealth facility in the state to achieve this recognition and one of only 17 in Colorado to tout this honor. COPPER was developed because 69.4% of children seeking emergency care in Colorado are treated in emergency departments that see fewer than 15 pediatric patients per day. Many communities across the state lack access to specialized children’s ERs, making it crucial for hospitals to be prepared to care for the state’s youngest residents.

“Pediatric patients in need of medical attention can expect better outcomes because we have a higher level of preparedness,” said ER Medical Director, Dr. Rebecca Kornas. “Our team is PALS certified, and we stay up to date on the best practices in pediatric health care.”

Each COPPER facility has Pediatric Care Coordinators, including one nurse and one physician. For the region, Dr. Kornas and Jen Jones lead the charge in working with each facility to achieve this designation. At AdventHealth Avista, Dr. Ryan Gibbons and Tyler Moore serve as the Pediatric Care Coordinators.

Achieving this certification took the team more than a year, with contributions from various departments including pharmacy, respiratory, radiology, disaster management, and many more. Additionally, we partnered with team members in Florida to learn from their best practices and policies.

We are deeply grateful for the hard work and dedication that made this recognition a reality. “Thank you for all your diligent work getting our emergency department and hospital ready for pediatric patients,” said Dr. Kornas. “It will make a difference in our community.”

In the future, EMS transporting pediatric patients will prioritize COPPER-designated facilities for their care. AdventHealth Avista also participates in the National Pediatric Readiness Quality Initiative (NPRQI), which is transforming pediatric emergency clinical care across the nation. This platform allows hospitals to access real-time ER data and provides insights on advancing clinical care and improving overall pediatric readiness.

—AdventHealth. Republished with permission from the AdventHealth News & Stories website, April 28, 2025, article. Photos supplied.

Ginger Bell – Loveland, Colorado … The Eden Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loveland, Colorado, is hosting a week-long community outreach event, June 6-14.  “Encounters with Jesus” will be the week’s theme and is presented by John Davidson, a representative from Adventist World Radio and former Rocky Mountain Conference pastor.

Special presentations from guest speakers on health and lifestyle, “Bible in Your Hands” Bible marking, Women’s gatherings, and organic gardening will be the daily features. Presenters include DeeAnn Bragaw, director of Women’s Ministries for the North America Division, and Eric Aakko, director for the Masters in Public Health Studies Program from Union Adventist University, along with a few department directors from the Eden Valley Institute.*

“Truly a rewarding week is planned, packed with not only spiritual encounters but also nature walks, lifestyle support, and family,” remarked Ginger Bell, spouse of Eden Valley Church’s lead pastor Rex Bell.

“You will find peace and assurance in a world filled with turmoil and uncertainty. You will discover lifestyle guidance that will strengthen and brighten every day of your life. You will discover new Bible truths,” she continued. “The week is promising to be a blessing to not only members but for the community and friends that we hope will join us at the special event.”

CLICK HERE for more information.

* Please note that Eden Valley Institute is a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church but is not affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

—Ginger Bell writes from Estes Park Seventh-day Adventist Church.

By Doug Inglish

I used to live in Minnesota, billed as the Land of 10,000 Lakes. That was a PR gimmick. The truth is, there are more than 11,800 lakes if you make the cutoff 10 acres. If you bring it down to 5 acres, it’s almost incalculable. Alaska has more than 3.2 million lakes; although, they cheat by being roughly seven and a half times the size of Minnesota, but I digress.

Then I came to Colorado and learned about ditch rights. You probably know all about that, but for the newcomers, that is the right to water that comes upon land you own. And not just the water in a river or canal passes through your property. You may not own the rain that falls onto the roof of your house.

In Minnesota, the very thought of determining who owns the rain is baffling, while in Colorado they argue, sometimes in court and at times with arms drawn, over water ownership. One look at comparable water bills between the two states tells the story. And yet people in both places have the same needs for water. We all shower, cook, wash the car, and hydrate after exercise. It is not any more or less useful to the citizens of one state over the other. So, what’s the big difference?

Scarcity. If you have a lot of something, its value is relatively diminished. If it’s in short supply, the value goes up.

That being the case, if a resident of Pueblo offers to let the neighbors do the laundry in her house while their washing machine is broken, she is making a bigger sacrifice to help a friend in need than her counterpart in Duluth. The difference may not be so large that it catches your attention, but scarcity of any commodity helps to define level of sacrifice in sharing that commodity.

People who have lots of money can (and often do) shower their children with the things that money can buy. For them, it might not be much of a sacrifice because they don’t have the same scarcity of money that another family may have. But time might be a commodity of genuine scarcity for them. Spending time with children could be where the real sacrifice takes place.

And don’t think for a second that even young ones can’t see what’s going on. Buying your kid a bike might not make a dent in your finances, but going biking with your kid could require genuine sacrifice. If You do the former but neglect the latter, you send a message to them about how much you really value them. Is it enough to sacrifice what is scarce?

Of course, it can work the other way too. I went to college with a guy who said his dad was always around, they spent a lot of time playing catch and fishing, and he never missed a birthday or a school play. But he had zero respect for his father because he made no effort to find or hold a job. There was a lot of time for riding, but no money for a bike.

Whether there is plenty of money and no time, or lots of time and no money, generosity is expressed through the sacrifice of whatever commodity is in short supply. Finding a balance can be hard, but there is great reward in making the effort.

This is as true when it comes to sacrificing for the mission of the church. All of our resources—our time, our finances, our abilities—are precious commodities that bring great blessings when we offer them in service to the Lord. A balanced approach to placing these resources in God’s hands often means giving to Him that which is scarce to us. If it does not, then nothing has been sacrificed. If we value something, we will sacrifice for it. I pray that you value the mission enough to give what is needed, and I know that such sacrifice is always rewarded in one way or another.

—Doug Inglish is RMC vice president for administration and stewardship director. Photo by Todd Rhines of Unsplash.