With a passion for nursing and home health care, in 2002, Sue Brown founded Home Care of the Grand Valley (HCGV), a nonprofit agency where home care professionals help people regain their health and wellness and remain safe and independent at home. Brown retired in April as CEO of the home health agency she has led for the past 16 years.

Destined for nursing

As a child growing up in Cisco, Utah, Brown always knew she wanted to become a nurse. When she was 14, her family moved to Grand Junction where she became a Candy Striper volunteer at St. Mary’s Hospital. She later earned an associate’s degree in nursing from then-Mesa College, where she became particularly interested in home health care.

At age 20, Brown was the youngest nurse that Presbyterian Hospital in Denver had ever hired. She also worked at Boulder Community Hospital and Kaiser, as well as St. Joseph Hospital, where she directed Women’s and Children’s Services. During the mid-1990s she was asked to develop a home health program for a private Denver company.

Brown earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Regis University in Denver, and later a Master of Science in Nursing Administration from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

After Brown and her late husband, Paul, returned to Grand Junction, she became director of medical-surgical nursing staff at St. Mary’s. When St. Mary’s decided to end its own home health program, a group of Grand Junction nonprofit leaders recruited Brown to start HCGV.

“We needed an agency to care for babies who came out of NICU, and for people in post-op, and those with more complex home health issues,” Brown said.

HCGV: excellence in care

HCGV serves clients in five Western Slope counties. The majority of patients are 65 and older and acutely ill, therefore they receive rehab home health patient care and self-care teaching. Many are also in need of personal and medical support and long-term in-home assistance.

“More people want to stay home,” Brown said. “In many cases, it’s more affordable and more comfortable.”

Brown said the HCGV staff is excellent and they care for patients like family.

“They have a heart for what they’re doing,” she said.

What's next?

With a daughter, son-in-law, three grandsons and a new great-grandson, Brown wants to spend more time with family.

“I’m really fortunate that I’ve done work that I love for my whole life,” she said of her 53-year nursing career. “The work is so satisfying; there are so many needs out there.”

For more information about HCGV, call 263-0202 or visit the main office at 1131 N. 21 St. in Grand Junction.