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Colorado Neurological Institute (CNI)
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Tribute to CNI Founder: Gary D. VanderArk, MDCNI is grateful to Dr. Gary VanderArk, whose vision and commitment to creating a premier regional neuroscience center in Colorado led to the founding of CNI in 1988. After guiding the organization through fourteen years of milestones, Dr.VanderArk stepped down in 2003 as President of CNI to accept a position as director of the neurosurgery residency program at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
VanderArk credits Nick Hilger, CEO at Swedish in 1987, for making CNI a reality. A year after Hilger's arrival, the Rocky Mountain MS Center moved in and the original CNI was formed on the top two floors of 701 E. Hampden. Dr. VanderArk is especially proud that the principles first agreed to by the CNI members remain the pillars of the organization today: building outcomes-driven, multi-disciplinary programs based on research, education, and patient care. But the real reason for CNI's existence is simple. "Service, that's what we are all about" VanderArk says. "We are here to serve patients, but we also need to think about how we can serve the physicians." That's why if you ask him to highlight his most memorable accomplishments at CNI, VanderArk quickly mentions the people with whom he served. Looking ahead, Dr. VanderArk believes CNI needs to overcome the challenges that doctors face in their day-to-day practices. To go to the next level, the business needs of physicians must be more effectively met and CNI can play a major role in that endeavor. "The challenge of being an independent institute not affiliated with a medical school is that there is no overall unifying body to unite the doctors. CNI can add value to its membership by helping physicians work together as a team more effectively." It all comes back to service. "For 15 years, I've been talking to people about CNI's mission, which is to serve patients with neurological disease. It's so simple, and that's how CNI will be successful in the future. If people know you exist to serve them, you can't lose!" |
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For Gary VanderArk, 1983 was the genesis for the birth of
CNI. Based on recommendations from the American Hospital Association, a group of
doctors at Swedish Medical Center decided that the hospital should form a
neuroscience Center of Excellence. "The idea was for it to be physician driven
rather than hospital driven." 
