Eliza Buyers, MD, FACOG

Eliza is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist with additional certification in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Before moving to Grand County, Dr. Buyers practiced medicine in the Denver-metro area for nearly 30 years.

Most recently, she worked at a community clinic in Boulder, where she led a team of sexual health educators and provided comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services. Previously, she served at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado, delivering clinical care and contributing to research and education in areas such as contraception, menstrual bleeding, PCOS, and person-centered care.

Dr. Buyers completed her residency at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, attended medical school at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University.

Since 2019, Dr. Buyers has been actively involved in continuing education through ECHO Colorado’s Adolescent Reproductive Health Program, where she supports pediatric providers and others working with young people.

Dr. Buyers is passionate about her work and loves helping people of all ages and backgrounds achieve their health goals. She believes that everyone deserves access to high-quality, nonjudgmental, and barrier-free reproductive health care services.

In her free time, Eliza enjoys exploring the trails in every season with her bikes, skis, and her beloved “super-mutt”, Louie. She shares her life with a partner who is an avid mountain biker and has two incredible young adult children who share her love for traveling, good food, and red wine.   

Hannah Wynd, Deputy Director at Grand County Public Health

Hannah is the Deputy Director at Grand County Public Health. She has served the department for 5 years and came to Grand County to live over 12 years ago. Hannah brings nearly a decade of local public health experience to her leadership in strategic planning, building
community wellness programs, and regional health initiatives. Hannah strives to provide innovative solutions to complex public health challenges.

Prior to her role in Grand County, Hannah served with Summit County Public Health, supported local Colorado non-profits, and conducted clinical and environmental research with the
University of Colorado School of Medicine and the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

She holds a Master of Public Health in Global Environmental & Occupational Health from the Colorado School of Public Health and is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist. Hannah is committed to advancing equitable healthcare access and fostering long-term resilience across rural communities—a mission fueled by her love of lifelong learning and the new insights gained from working alongside local residents.

In her downtime, Hannah enjoys spending time outside chasing around her family and two dogs. When she is not chasing after all of them, she enjoys baking, gardening, and drinking really good iced coffee.

Mara Pacyga, Founder of Elevate Pilates and Physical Therapy

Mara Pacyga celebrates 25 years as a Physical Therapist this year, practicing for the past 19 years throughout Grand County. She is a Hoosier at heart, graduating from Indiana University in 1993 with double Honors degrees in Biology and Psychology and a minor in Spanish. Her love for dance, coupled with her work in neuroscience research, and teaching diverse strength and fitness classes, led her to the profession of Physical Therapy and a move to Colorado in 1999, graduating as a Buff from the University of Colorado Physical Therapy Program in 2001. She is Comprehensive Pilates Rehabilitation certified through Polestar, a Breast Cancer Rehabilitation Specialist through PORi, and Functional Dry Needling Level 1 certified.

Her PT work history includes a variety of clinical settings including inpatient, outpatient and skilled nursing care at Rose Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente until 2007. She started working in Grand County at Alpine Physical Therapy in Fraser until 2009, where she began to establish deep connections in our community. In 2009, Mara became the sole Physical Therapist for MPH, at the time KMHD, where she became the interim Therapy Services Manager, providing care at Kremmling Memorial Hospital and the Timberline Clinic in Granby. She helped design and create the Physical Therapy clinic at the birth of MPMC in Granby, as well as open up their clinic in Winter Park. Looking back, she is very grateful to have helped facilitate the healing in all corners of our county, as well as the collaboration with our excellent medical providers and clinicians, clinic staffs and wellness providers throughout our home.

Coinciding with her work for MPH, she began a small private PT and Pilates practice in 2010 in Winter Park. In 2012, Mara founded Elevate Pilates and Physical Therapy, opening up the first Pilates studio in our county. Her mission was to create a wellness home, rooted in community, with the foundation of Pilates-based Physical Therapy. Elevate has grown not only into a venue for classes in fitness, Pilates, Yoga, Barre, Meditation, Balance, Tai Chi, Ski Conditioning etc, but also a place to build community through connection. She has used the venue of Elevate to build a business to give other clinicians and wellness providers a platform to shine and bring their gifts to our community.

Mara has also participated in training and mentoring 11 Pilates teachers as well as PT students as a clinical educator. She was a volunteer PT for the NSCD Alpine Competition Center for 10 years, as well as a PT for the Alpine Paralympic athletes through Snow Sports New Zealand during their North American season. Mara has taught fitness classes at Grand Park Community Recreation Center, and has been a continued teacher for Fitness in the Park through the WP Chamber of Commerce since its inception. She has volunteered her time and the studio for numerous special groups including Shining Stars, Fraser Valley Elementary, WP Comp Center, WP Ski Patrol, volleyball and gymnastics teams. Her heart lies in donating and fundraising through events for the Brammer Family Fund, HTA, Hope Fund and GCHRN.

With new ownership at Elevate, Mara looks to the future to continue collaboration, mentorship, workshops and patient care within and outside of Grand County. She feels fortunate to have surrounded herself over the past two decades with the most dedicated, compassionate, and brilliant Physical Therapists, Pilates teachers, and wellness providers in Grand County.

The Award for Excellence in Health Service has been given out annually since 2013. Past award recipients are:

2021: Brene Belew-LaDue, BSN, RN, and Outbreak of Kindness volunteers

2020: Grand County COVID-19 Incident Management Team Command Staff

2019: Sue Johnson, LCSW and Katie Hornbaker, CRNA

2018: Heather Bentler, RN and John Nichols, MD

2017: Wade Walker, RPh

2016: Val Lind, RN

2015: Hannah Foley, NP and Ray Jennings, GCEMS Chief

2014: Mary Jo Hargadine, RN

2013: Therese McElroy, RN