Vail emergency doctor receives Vail Health Elevate Award
Scott McCorvey joined Vail Health in 2016 and was nominated by a fellow Vail Health employee
Vail Health/Courtesy Photo
Dr. Scott McCorvey, who works in the Vail Health Emergency Department, has been named the eighth recipient of the Vail Health Elevate Award. Vail Health created the Elevate Award in June 2022 to allow patients and their families to nominate and thank employees who have touched their lives in some way.
Originally from Georgia, McCorvey completed his undergrad in Cell Biology at the University of Georgia, his Master of Science at Colorado State University (where he met his wife, Kirsten), followed by his MD at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. He joined Vail Health in 2016 and is an avid kayaker and cyclist with a competitive spirit. A father of two daughters, McCorvey and his family enjoy hiking, biking, skiing and watching movies together.
“Above all, Scott is a profoundly loving and loyal family man, devoted husband and doting father,” said Kirsten McCorvey. “I’m so incredibly grateful that he has been recognized with this award because I know that if he puts half the effort into being a physician as he does into being a husband and father, he is more than deserving of it.”
McCorvey was nominated by Elizabeth McDaniel, a fellow Vail Health employee and the director of the Family Birth Center, for the service McCorvey provided for her late mother and her father, John Gottlieb.
McCorvey originally treated McDaniel’s mother, Lynn Gottlieb, in May 2023 when she came in for severe abdominal pain stemming from her advanced colon cancer. McCorvey helped ensure Lynn’s end-of-life wishes were heard and communicated to her family and the rest of the medical staff. That night, when Lynn passed away in the Intensive Care Unit, her wishes not to be intubated or resuscitated were honored thanks to McCorvey’s proactive communication.
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“This is a really hard conversation to have with a patient, and I do not know of a lot of emergency department doctors willing to have end-of-life conversations with patients,” McDaniel said. “Dr. McCorvey gave us all a place to have this conversation and fully understand my mom’s wishes for her end-of-life care.”
Just six months later, on Nov. 11, 2023, McDaniel’s dad, John Gottlieb, called her and was very sick at home. An ambulance transported him to the Vail Health Emergency Department, where McCorvey was working. McCorvey looked at John’s chart before his arrival.
“Dr. McCorvey saw how complicated of a patient my dad is with many medical issues,” McDaniel said. “He diagnosed my dad with severe sepsis from a suspected source of a wound infection on my dad’s leg. He did the full sepsis workup and immediately started treating him for severe sepsis.
“About two hours later, my dad’s blood pressure began to drop rapidly. He was in septic shock, and we were watching his body try to die,” McDaniel said. “Dr. McCorvey again asked us if my brother and I knew what his resuscitation status was, ensuring that if he went into cardiac arrest, that the care team would be following his wishes.”
This time the story went a different direction, and with the help of staff from the ICU, ED and other departments, they were able to get his blood pressure back up and bring him back to life. John was then transferred to Denver for a higher level of ICU care, where he recovered and was able to return home.
“My dad is still alive today because of the care provided by Dr. McCorvey and the Emergency Department staff, with a special thank you to Emily Brown and Eli DeSouza,” McDaniel said. “I lost one parent this year, and it was because of their care that today I still have my dad.”
The Elevate Award allows patients and their family members to nominate staff who made a meaningful difference in their health care experience. Nominees can work in any area of the Vail Health health care system — including admissions, laboratory, surgery centers, Howard Head Sports Medicine, Shaw Cancer Center, Colorado Mountain Medical, Vail Health Behavioral Health and more.
To nominate someone, visit VailHealth.org/ElevateAward.
