Nursing director selected for Parkview's new orthopedic hospital in Pueblo West

Long-time Parkview Health System nurse manager Ruth Baxter has been promoted to director of nursing for the new Parkview Pueblo West Orthopedic Hospital, due to open in late August or early September. 

Baxter is a 2005 graduate of Colorado State University Pueblo’s nursing school. She has served as a registered nurse in the hospital’s medical and surgical department, as well as the orthopedics department, and spent the past eight years as nurse manager for the hospital’s fifth-floor east wing tower.

“Ruth has worked closely with the orthopedic surgeons and her staff to develop our current hip and knee replacement program. Her dedication to this program is one of the reasons it’s been so successful,” said Renee Elwell, chief nursing officer for Parkview. 

Baxter said her goals in Pueblo West will include focusing on a positive patient experience by providing highly specialized care with the help of a dedicated team of orthopedic nurses in the new, state-of-the-art hospital.

She also aims to increase the volume of total joint replacement surgeries performed at Parkview each year and hopes to offer more patients the opportunity to improve their mobility and quality of life through expanded education programs.

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Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.