OB – GYN doctor joins Gunnison Hospital staff

By Ben Lasseter

Staff writer

10-1-2020

GUNNISON—Gunnison Valley Hospital is hiring a new doctor who specializes in women’s health care.

Dr. Britney Bunot will come aboard in November to fill a vacancy in the community that has existed for around two years now. She will be the first OB-GYN the area has ever had to serve in a permanent, specialized position.

“Lots of specialists we flat-out don’t have the volume for,” said Brenda Bartholomew, chief nursing officer at Gunnison Valley Hospital. “This is kind of a step because we feel like there’s enough volume for an OB-GYN in Gunnison for it to work.”

Dr. Bunot is coming from Richfield, where she has worked since Aug. 2018, but was not as busy as she wanted to be. A board-certified doctor, she spent her years before Richfield studying and training in Iowa, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Before he stopped coming two years ago, Dr. Stan Bailey used to provide this gynecological service in weekly visits to Gunnison.

This more common way for Gunnison Valley residents to receive specialized care extends to other fields, such as orthopaedics, Bartholomew said. She said as of now, the area does not have any other serious lack of care coverage like it does for female care.

“It’s going to be great to have a female provider in the valley again,” said hospital board member Merri Lynn Sorensen. At last week’s meeting, the Centerfield city council appointed her to serve another term on the Gunnison Valley Hospital board of directors.

The hospital is also making other structural improvements by remodeling two care rooms to prohibit airflow, Sorensen said.

Air-conditioning systems that recycle air have been proven to promote new coronavirus infection. Because creating negative-pressure rooms is an expense that will help to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the hospital can use funds from the CARES Act to pay for it, Sorensen said.

She also expressed enthusiasm at the coming of Sean Olsen, a future nurse practitioner returning Manti to work in his hometown.

“I know he’s happy to be back in the valley and provide for people in the north of the county,” she said. “It’s always nice to have more choices in healthcare. It’ll be great for [him and Dr. Bunot] to both be here.”