{"id":87843,"date":"2026-01-15T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=87843"},"modified":"2026-01-22T12:14:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:14:28","slug":"our-stories-kendra-simms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/our-stories-kendra-simms\/","title":{"rendered":"Kendra Simms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_87844\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-87844\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-87844\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/08111550\/Kendra_Simms_EVMC_2025_1_small-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-87844\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kendra Simms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Stepping into a role as wedding planner; it\u2019s all in a day\u2019s work<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">When\u00a0Kendra Simms\u00a0sat down with Dr. Jennifer McClellan to review current\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-estes-valley-medical-center\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">UCHealth Estes Valley Medical Center<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> patient cases, the review of a case that came in the previous night didn\u2019t seem like anything out of the ordinary \u2014 until Simms learned why the patient was in Estes Park.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cDr. McClellan mentioned that a patient was supposed to get married the next day,\u201d Simms said, the hospital\u2019s Clinical Quality Manager. \u201cWe talked to the bride-to-be about the idea of hosting her wedding at the hospital.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The next morning, Simms received the call she hoped for from the bride-to-be.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cWe want to get married,\u201d she said, expressing the sentiments of her and her fianc\u00e9e to follow through with their plans for that day. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Simms quickly\u00a0transitioned her busy\u00a0leadership\u00a0schedule\u00a0into\u00a0a\u00a0wedding planner extraordinaire.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">She had to plan a wedding in\u00a0just\u00a0less\u00a0than eight hours.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">After discussing the idea of nuptials at the hospital with the father-of-the-bride, who displayed \u201ca\u00a0wide range\u00a0of emotions, because he was not only her father but a physician,\u201d\u00a0Simms\u00a0said, the family embraced the idea.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Simms pulled together the team she thought could make the wedding happen.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">She asked facilities\u00a0and environmental services\u00a0to prep the lobby, moving furniture out of the area in front of the fireplace\u00a0that would serve as the altar\u00a0and giving the space a sparkle worthy of a wedding.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Simms\u00a0contacted\u00a0photographers\u00a0who\u00a0had connections to Estes Valley Medical Center \u2014 one holds the role of marketing specialist at the\u00a0hospital,\u00a0and the other is the wife of an employee\u00a0who specializes in wedding photography.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Simms consulted registration to see what appointments might be\u00a0impacted; none would be if the wedding happened at midday.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">And, most importantly, the patient&#8217;s care team of nurses and physicians had to be on board with the plan to avoid compromising her health. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Since the wedding was already scheduled for that day, the florist delivered the flowers to the hospital instead of the wedding venue, the officiant arrived with the family members and guests who were already in town for the event and hospital staff looked for a Bluetooth speaker to play music already loaded on the bride&#8217;s phone. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The patient decided to wear her rehearsal dinner dress, a more comfortable option than her more formal, tighter wedding gown.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cI couldn\u2019t have done it without the whole team,\u201d said Simms. \u201cI was the\u00a0brainchild\u00a0and wedding\u00a0planner,\u00a0but it took a\u00a0team\u00a0to make it happen.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Exactly eight hours after Simms started planning the wedding, the patient&#8217;s nurses escorted the bride via wheelchair to the staging area where her father waited to see his daughter for the first look before he walked her down the aisle. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Simms, who fluttered around the lobby to manage the controlled chaos, pulled together the perfect wedding for her patient.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cAs a nurse, we learn how precious life is,\u201d Simms said. \u201cThe small things can really make a difference. We didn\u2019t know the outcome for the patient, and we didn\u2019t want her to live with any regret, so we made sure to honor and recognize that there is a person and family on the other end of our care. There is more to taking care of people than diagnosis and treatment.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 su-column-centered\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>You Make Extraordinary Possible<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Together, we recognize and honor the qualities within ourselves by shining a spotlight on how each and every one of us improve lives in big ways and small.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\" class=\"su-button su-button-style-flat\" style=\"color:#FFFFFF;background-color:#A22343;border-color:#821c36;border-radius:56px\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color:#FFFFFF;padding:0px 26px;font-size:20px;line-height:40px;border-color:#be657c;border-radius:56px;text-shadow:none\"> Share a story<\/span><\/a>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stepping into a role as wedding planner; it\u2019s all in a day\u2019s work When\u00a0Kendra Simms\u00a0sat down with Dr. Jennifer McClellan to review current\u00a0UCHealth Estes Valley Medical Center patient cases, the review of a case that came in the previous night didn\u2019t seem like anything out of the ordinary \u2014 until Simms learned why the patient [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2423,"featured_media":87844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4826],"class_list":["post-87843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-you-make-extraordinary-possible"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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