Estes Park Health welcomes new family medicine practitioner
Returning to her Colorado roots, family physician Hannah Fields has accepted a position at Estes Park Health. She will begin seeing patients at the end of July.
Like many young adults growing up in Boulder, Colo., Fields often ventured to the mountains, where she loved to explore the trails and ridges on skis and in hiking boots. Where her talent really shined, however, was in the classroom.
An overachiever by nature, Fields attended the University of Colorado Boulder and in four years completed degrees in biochemistry and psychology as well as a minor in chemistry and a certificate in neuroscience. It wasn’t enough for Fields to complete coursework in a variety of scientific subjects; she also graduated summa cum laude, the highest academic honor for college graduates indicating completion of a research thesis of excellent quality and grades in the top 5% of their class.
Although one might think someone with this level of ambition and academic excellence would prefer to be at home reading books, Fields’ personality exudes enthusiasm, cheerfulness and energy. That energy and passion for helping people – and a natural talent for science – led Fields to pursue medicine.
“While working in a small hospital in Peru and designing my honors thesis about health beliefs and prenatal care, I became passionate about the power of science applied to help people live their best lives,” said Fields when asked what attracted her to medicine.
After UC Boulder, Fields was awarded a Dean’s Scholarship to attend the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix) in Rochester, Minn., for her medical degree. While in medical school, Dr. Fields was granted a scholarship from the Mayo Clinic to pursue a master’s in public health from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain after her second year of studies. Her master’s degree coursework, practicum and research focused on program and policy evaluation, and her thesis work implemented and evaluated a pilot program of prescribing community activities in rural towns in northeast Spain.
She completed her Medical Doctorate in 2015 in Minnesota.
Fields returned to Colorado to complete her residency at the University of Colorado and Denver Health, taking a special interest in studying global health, cross-cultural medicine, preventive medicine, family planning and community medicine.
Upon completing her residency, Fields launched her career as a family physician for Salud Family Health Centers in Estes Park, serving as their medical director. Here she could apply her fluent Spanish as well as her goals of helping family members of all ages improve their overall health through preventive medicine. She has also worked as a physician at Harmony Foundation in Estes Park and as part of the clinical faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
In 2022, Fields moved to Madison, Minn., to work at Madison Healthcare Services, but her heart longed for Colorado and to be closer to family. She was eager to return to Estes Park and jumped at the chance to be back in town when the family practitioner position opened earlier this year.
“I am excited to come home to Estes Park where we have our home,” said Fields, smiling at the thought of being back in Estes Valley on a full-time basis. “We really feel at home here in the mountains and closer, more connected to our families.”
Fields continues to add to her training. She is currently working on completing a second board certification – her first is in family medicine – in lifestyle medicine.
“Lifestyle medicine is preventing, treating and reversing chronic diseases using non-medication treatment plans,” said Fields. “You can improve or even reverse hypertension, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, depression, chronic pain disorders and inflammatory disorders by applying lifestyle changes, like nutrition, physical activity, social connections, stress reduction, better sleep and refraining from the use of substances.”
Fields will be moving back to Estes Park with her husband, whom she met while studying in Barcelona, and two dogs in the coming weeks.
“I am looking forward to meeting the needs of the community and providing excellent primary care,” said Fields. “This is an active and vibrant community invested in their health, and I am excited to help empower people to enhance their understanding about their health.”
To schedule an appointment with Fields once she starts at Estes Park Health, call the physician clinic at 970-586-2200.
Dr. Hannah Fields with her husband David in Spain.