Dr. Jennifer McLellan took on the job of medical Chief of Staff at Estes Park Health on January 1^st. She is the third woman in a row and the third woman ever to hold this leadership position. She takes over from Dr. Bridget Dunn who served in the role in 2023 and 2024. Before Dr. Dunn, Dr. Robyn Zehr served in the role.

“I am essentially the lead physician for all the physicians who are medical staff members of Estes Park Health.” Dr. McLellan explained. “I will be a liaison between the medical staff members and the administration as well as the Park Hospital District Board. We do have a lot of women on our medical staff at Estes Park Health. I am excited to have more representation of women at all levels of leadership at our hospital. I think it’s important. Of course, all the men who have served as medical Chief of Staff before us have done a fantastic job, but I think it’s great to have more representation by some women as well.”

Dr. McLellan has worked at Estes Park Health since 2019, first working through a rural physicians’ group, now as a general surgeon at EPH since October of 2020.

She will continue doing her regular job performing surgeries and seeing patients in the clinic. In addition, as the medical Chief of Staff, she will be running medical staff meetings and medical executive meetings. She will also meet regularly with the EPH CEO and will present quarterly to the Park Hospital District Board.

Dr. McLellan said she is excited to take on this position because she has always been interested in leadership and administration.

“I’m excited for the challenge,” she noted. “I feel like I’m in a good position to be able to work with the medical staff and the administration. I try to get along with people and I feel like I’m approachable. People can come to me when they have issues. I can help bring issues from the medical staff to the administration as well as to the Board. And vice versa.”

McLellan aspires to be a leader in hospitals for the rest of her career. She is looking toward obtaining an MBA.

“But I also love being a general surgeon,” she stressed. “I love taking care of patients. I don’t really want to give that up right now.”

Dr. McLellan and her partner, Dr. Christine Bogardus, perform the “bread and butter” of general surgery. They offer the full spectrum of general surgeries which includes hernia repairs, gall bladder procedures, appendectomies, surgery on the small and large intestine. They also perform colonoscopies and upper endoscopies. They also provide multiple procedures in the clinic for conditions like lumps, bumps, abscesses, and hemorrhoid issues.

She is also a member of the CU Medical Alumni Association and a member of the Estes Park High School Health Science Advisory Committee.

Transition to UCHealth

Dr. McLellan said she is excited that EPH has a pending partnership with UCHealth later this year.

“The transition to becoming part of UCHealth is exciting and it’s a little bit daunting.” She commented. “There are a lot of unknowns right now. My tenure as Chief of Staff is going to be unique in that way. I will be part of the leadership dealing with UCHealth and helping them understand the issues and concerns our medical staff have.”

She added that UCHealth will be investing in the physical plant and equipment, but UCHealth will also be encouraging and helping staff with education and advancing what types of patients we can take care of at our hospital.

“We’ll be able to tap into their intellectual capital,” Dr. McLellan emphasized. “It will be wonderful to be able to utilize all their expertise. I think it is going to be beneficial for our hospital and our community.”

The road to becoming a surgeon

Even as a child, she enjoyed working with her hands and performing small, complex tasks like origami. When she attended junior high school, her mother had some serious medical problems. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong. It was scary for Dr. McLellan and her family.

“During that time, it was interesting to see the different interactions doctors had with my family,” she recalled. “Some were fantastic. Some were lacking. Throughout that time, I kept thinking, ‘I could do this better.’ Maybe that’s just a little bit of the hubris of a child. I thought maybe I could do something different than some of these physicians.”

In junior high school, she had a wonderful science teacher who instilled in her a love for science. When she got to college, she decided she wanted to be a doctor. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a concentration in Anatomy at Colorado State University.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do surgery or family medicine,” she remarked. “I got into medical school at the University of Colorado. During our rotations, I found out I really liked laparoscopic surgery and general surgery.”

Dr. McLellan was able to match into a residency in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she completed a five-year program. After that, she did a one-year fellowship in minimally invasive surgery in Springfield, Massachusetts. After that, she decided she wanted to work in rural surgery. She worked in a small hospital in Wisconsin for six years. Then she decided it was time to come back to Colorado.

“I was so happy and elated when I found out that they were hiring at Estes Park Health,” she said. “I was able to become a surgeon here. It has been a dream come true. I hope that I can continue a really long career here.”

McLellan is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the Colorado Medical Society, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Enjoying mountain life in Estes Park

Dr. McLellan and her husband own a home in Estes Park off Highway 7. She lives six minutes away from the hospitals and enjoys here amazingly short commute to work.

Her husband is Evan Mallon, a writer who is working on his first novel. They have two dogs, Omi and Bee.

She enjoys living near her parents, her sister and family, and her brother and his wife who all live in Colorado.

“It’s been wonderful moving back to Colorado,” she noted. “I’m very close to my family. Being able to see them more frequently has been great.”

Dr. McLellan said she loves to knit. She started in 2020. She also does a little crochet and plans to learn to sew on a sewing machine she got for Christmas.

“I joke that I can sew on people, but I don’t really know how to sew on fabric,” she added.

She also likes to hike.

“I love the beauty of Estes Park,” Dr. McLellan stressed. “It’s remarkable. I have medical students now who have been rotating with us in general surgery. Just the other day one of my medical students said, ‘It is just so beautiful when you drive to the hospital. It’s amazing.’ You live in a dream here. And I’m so grateful to be here.”