Laura Lewis Medical bills

Beloved Creede native Laura Lewis has dedicated her life to helping residents of the San Luis Valley. Now, following a terrifying medical emergency, weeks in the hospital, including a week on a ventilator, Laura needs help to cover medical expenses.

Laura Lewis is a 39-year-old native of Creede, Colorado, a very small mountain town at the Headwaters of the Rio Grande River. At a young age, she knew she wanted to be a nurse, and by the age of 19, she was already an LPN.

Laura then worked in Creede as an LPN while continuing school to receive her RN. She worked for the Creede Clinic for about six years until she accepted a job at Hospice, located in the San Luis Valley, which receives patients within a 100-mile radius. Laura worked her way up from RN to Director of Nursing, and later became the Executive Director of Hospice and received her BS in nursing. Laura saw Hospice through the challenging years of Covid. She navigated new mandates, rules, and regulations and learned how to use telehealth. Meanwhile, she managed limited staff since the nurses and employees often fell ill from Covid. Laura always made sure NO patient fell through the cracks.

After the worst of Covid, Laura was ready for a change and stepped down from the Executive Director position at Hospice, though she continues to serve as a consultant. Shortly after stepping down from that position, she was offered a job at the Alamosa Detention Center.

However, toward the end of August 2023, before the new job started, she fell extremely ill. After several days of nausea and vomiting, she finally called an ambulance to take her from her home in Monte Vista to the Del Norte Hospital. They were concerned that she was going into kidney failure due to dehydration. After 48 hours in that smaller hospital, the medical staff decided she should be transferred to the Penrose/St Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs.

Within 24 hours, Laura was quickly moved to the ICU and placed on a ventilator, where she would remain for a week. The Chaplain visited with her family when there was a question about her survival. Thankfully, she pulled through. After being in the hospital for a total of 3 weeks, she was finally brought home to stay with her family for another few weeks as she learned to walk again and regain her strength.

Because she was between jobs at the time that this all happened, she did NOT have insurance coverage during her hospitalization and now owes around $300,000.00 in medical expenses.

Laura is back in her home and already working part-time at the Alamosa Detention Center. She still has muscle weakness and gets fatigued easily. Still, she is improving despite losing almost two months of her life.

Laura has always been strong and independent and reluctant to ask for help. Her selflessness has impacted hundreds of families across the San Luis Valley. Her family and friends believe this community can come together and help her in return. Thank you for reading and considering; any assistance is greatly appreciated!