By Laurie Whittier
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Is there a doctor in the clubhouse? There is now! And this board-certified physician-geriatrician is big on house calls. In fact, Wind Crest’s first on-site Erickson Health doctor founded the Denver area’s only house-call-based medical practice in 2000.
Patrick Roney, M.D., has been in practice for 25 years in both Colorado and Texas. A married father of three boys, he’s worked in a variety of settings and roles on both the clinical and administrative sides of medicine.
“But I’m not the nerdy admin-type,” he says. At 54, Roney says his strongest attributes as a doctor include his patience, his experience, and his willingness to listen. “The most important attribute is listening— especially when it comes to older Americans,” Roney says. “When you listen to your elders, you honor them.”
Born and raised in Detroit, Mich., Roney received his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame University and then returned to Michigan where he earned his medical degree from Wayne State University. He completed his residency at Denver’s Mercy Medical Center in 1979.
“We wanted to move to Colorado primarily because of the active lifestyle,” he says. Roney, along with his wife Linda and sons Trevor, Ian, and Christopher, are avid skiers. “I’ve skied now for 44 years,” Roney says. He also spends a lot of time cycling.
The good doctor’s background
Roney began his medical career in clinical family practice and moved to the administrative side in the late 1980s, when he was hired as Medical Director at Swedish Hospital in Englewood. During that time, he played a major role in honing the hospital’s use of electronic medical records, or EMRs (a technology utilized at all of Erickson’s communities).