Welcome to our first-ever Medical Minute! This blog series is presented to you by the medical team at Roundup River Ranch. Through this blog, we hope to increase awareness about the diverse range of medical diagnoses we serve, educate you with some of the incredible experts within the different medical specialties, and showcase how awesome individuals (campers, volunteers, staff, etc.) have found a place of belonging at Roundup. Let’s dive right in!
Here at Roundup River Ranch, we serve over 50 different life-altering medical diagnoses, and we’re currently in the process of expanding that list! We define a “life-altering diagnosis” as any condition or illness that significantly impacts a person’s daily life, physical or mental abilities, emotional well-being, or future outlook. Camp allows opportunities for connecting with the joy of childhood through friendships, new experiences, and the feeling that they are not alone. We are part of the global SeriousFun Children’s Network, founded by Paul Newman, whose vision was to create a place where kids impacted by these conditions can “raise a little hell” for absolutely no cost to the families. Camp is an important, joyful experience for these children and their families. They get to experience wild firsts (like climbing our 40-foot Challenge Course wall) and are able to find community with other kids who have been on similar medical journeys.
While a child’s diagnosis takes the backseat while at camp, it is always at the forefront of our minds as we intentionally create safe and medically supported programming. Each summer, we dedicate a whole week (six-days and five-nights) of fun to a set of campers who have similar diagnoses. For example, we have a week serving campers with cardiac conditions, a week for gastrointestinal conditions, and a week for neurological conditions, just to name a few.
Because we serve such a wide variety of campers, we are fully equipped with a wide variety of expertise and equipment. During camp, nurses with extensive pediatric experience stay in each cabin and are available 24/7 to campers. We also staff each session with providers (MD, DO, NP, PA) who are specialists in the diagnosis group being served that week; and/or providers with background in emergency medicine. We have year-round Medical Team members that include our Nursing & Medical Operations Director and our Medical Director. Each summer, we also hire an incredibly skilled seasonal staff including a Clinical Nurse Manager, 4 cabin nurses, and a Certified Nursing Assistant. Our medical volunteers and hospital partnerships truly make it possible for us to deliver the high-quality care that our campers need and deserve. We had a blast with 312 campers this past summer, and our nurses administered 7,250 medications (almost double from the previous year!)
Roundup River Ranch is located on 125-acres in the beautiful Colorado mountains! We have a medical facility onsite called “The Depot”, which is modeled after a train station. This building is fully equipped to help us perform routine and pre-hospital emergency care for our campers if required. There are five specialized treatment rooms and even a “Zen Den” for our campers who feel overwhelmed or need behavioral health support. Our facility houses equipment like a peritoneal dialysis machine, IV and feeding pumps, portable suction, echocardiogram (EKG) machine, and even a code cart for any medical emergency we might need to care for. We are also fully stocked with medical supplies and a large variety of medications that our campers may need.
Camp is a transformative experience for anyone who passes through our gates. We like to say that it is the one week, maybe in their entire year, where they get to just be kids and not be seen as their diagnosis. When kids come to Roundup River Ranch, they immediately go from patient to camper. Stay tuned for more about the campers we serve and how the medical team helps make this experience a safe and memorable adventure for everyone!