Longtime locals Tina and Steve “Vardo” Vardaman appreciate what Vail Health brings to our region.
They share, “The outstanding quality and breadth of health care services right here in our community is important to everyone.”
The couple first met during the 1994/95 ski season. Both were in their early 20s working on Vail Mountain. Steve was a rookie ski patroller from Iowa, while Tina, who had moved from Chicago, assisted guests as a member of Skier Services. They married five years later, and eventually settled in Wildridge to raise their twin daughters, Lauren and Sophie.
Life-Changing Behavioral Health Services
Behavioral health is a cause near and dear to the Vardamans. Steve is the Operations Manager for Eagle County Paramedics. He holds other emergency responder roles in the community including Vail Ski Patrol and is a tactical medic for Eagle County Special Operations Unit. He has seen firsthand the consequences of lacking behavioral health services in Eagle County.
Steve is eager for the Vail Health Precourt Healing Center to be built in the Edwards Community Health Campus telling us, “It will be life-changing in that same way the Shaw Cancer Center made cancer treatment more accessible.”
By trade, Tina is a real estate broker with Slifer Smith and Frampton. She also sits on the Vail Health Foundation Board and the campaign committee for It Takes A Valley: Transforming Behavioral Health, which is raising $100 million to improve behavioral health resources and services in our valley.
A Value of Helping Others
Helping others is a value passed down from Tina’s mother. Tina’s parents immigrated to the United States from Lithuania after World War II. Growing up, her mother worked with other Lithuanian immigrants to raise money to bring children in need of medical attention who were left behind in Soviet-occupied Lithuania to the United States. “The medical care these children received was transformational,” Tina said.
Tina also recounts that one of her most rewarding volunteer experiences was at Vail Health’s COVID-19 vaccine clinics in early 2021, when the vaccine first became available.
“I fondly remember the first doses given to some of our most elderly, who could not wait to hug their grandkids again — I had tears of joy!”
The Vardamans value the depth of health care services that are unique to this community. Generosity from people like you has played an integral role in programs and services available in our valley.
“We strongly believe in giving back and supporting our overall community wellness, both physically and mentally. That’s why we give to Vail Health.”Tina Vardaman