“Vail Health helped save our daughter’s life, and you can’t put a price on that,” says Bryan Bailey.
Following a transformative experience at Vail Health’s Family Birth Center, Susie and Bryan Bailey felt inspired to give back by nominating their nurse, Jacey Hagen, for the Elevate Award and sponsoring a room at the birth center. Their giving is an offer of deep gratitude for the exceptional care they received when their daughter was born prematurely.
A Care Team Becomes Family
A little over a year ago, Susie was 32 weeks pregnant and visiting Beaver Creek. She woke up the morning of her birthday and knew immediately that she was experiencing an emergency with her pregnancy. While her husband, Bryan, was in Denver attending to their ailing dog, he had arranged for their friend and local chef, Brandon Causey, to make a special birthday breakfast for the family. However, instead of whipping up eggs, Brandon calmly rushed Susie to the Family Birth Center, confident she would be in great care as it was where his three kids were born.
Following a quick vitals assessment, Susie received an emergency C-section, resulting in the premature birth of Abigail at 3.5 pounds and a two-month hospital stay. “The support she received was heartwarming,” Susie recalls. “I was so confident in the care team’s abilities.”
“Susie became very close with many of the nurses, including Kathy Roper, Martina Lettovska, Jacey Hagen, and Dr. Keith Samuels. Everybody on that floor became like family,” Bryan remembers.
This past January, Abigail celebrated her first birthday. She is progressing well, crawling around, babbling, and getting playfully bullied by her 3-year-old brother, William.
Finding Meaningful Ways to Give Back
Inspired by the care they received, the Baileys sought ways to express their gratitude. They nominated several team members, including Jacey Hagen, RN, for Vail Health’s Elevate Award, which recognizes individuals who give outstanding patient care. Jacey won the award due to several patient nominations and over five years of service at Vail Health, where she helped develop a nurse navigator program for expectant mothers and families. They also made a generous contribution to the Family Birth Center, sponsoring a birth room in their daughter’s name.
Supporting Health Care Supports Community
The area’s growth also inspires the Baileys’ desire to give back to Vail Health. “This is not just a small mountain town; this is a growing community, and people are going to have needs,” Susie explains. “You have to invest in places like this in order for them to thrive in the long run.”
Bryan is inspired by the compassion that Vail Health’s professionals exhibit. “I think Vail Health has a different, more compassionate approach to how they interact with their patients,” Bryan says. “It’s unique and special, and I’m happy to be able to support it.”
Bridging a Life Between Texas and Vail
Bryan, a Texas native and the first in his family to graduate from college, studied accounting at Central Arkansas and attended graduate school at Southern Methodist University (SMU). Susie graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in finance, specializing in real estate. Her career journey led her to a managing director role, overseeing investor coverage for a real estate investment platform across the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.
The two met through a mutual friend while Bryan was in graduate school. Susie’s support during Bryan’s college days laid the foundation for their partnership. Today, Bryan leads his investment firm, which specializes in industrial manufacturing companies.
Bryan and Susie, who share a passion for the outdoors, began visiting Vail through work trips. And while Bryan didn’t learn to ski until his late 20s, their son, William, is already taking to the magic carpet.
The family lives in Texas, but they cherish their time in Vail primarily for skiing and hiking, including conquering 14ers and exploring the trails in Steamboat Springs and Sylvan Lake. “We’re fortunate that in Vail, we can have it all. With solid infrastructure and easy access via the Eagle and Denver airports, we can come here easily and maintain seamless connectivity to our jobs and stay close to our families in Dallas,” says Susie.
The next time you’re out on the trail, you might see the family hiking together. William will stuff his pockets with treasured rocks and snack on jelly beans, which gives him the fuel to make it to the top of their trek.
“Hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to contribute more to the hospital and the community — that’s the goal.”Susie Bailey