Back to Back: CarePoint Emergency Medicine Physician Peter Bakes Named Top Doctor for Second Consecutive Year
For the second year in a row, CarePoint's Peter Bakes, MD, has been named a Top Doctor by 5280 magazine and Castle Connolly.
January 26, 2026
Longtime CarePoint emergency medicine physician Peter Bakes, MD, has been named a 2025 Top Doctor by 5280 Magazine and Castle Connolly. Dr. Bakes was a 2024 Top Doctor as well.
Only a small percentage of Colorado’s approximately 30,000 licensed physicians are honored as Top Doctors each year. Of the 2,300-plus emergency medicine physicians in the state, just 47 received the honor in 2025. Repeating as a Top Doctor puts Dr. Bakes in an even smaller group of physicians.
5280 and Castle Connolly, a New York-based healthcare research and information company, partner annually to create a list of the top physicians in the country. The digital nomination process allows licensed doctors nationwide to recommend candidates in any medical specialty in any part of the country for the honor. Castle Connolly’s physician-led research team then thoroughly vets each nominated doctor’s professional qualifications, education, hospital and faculty appointments, research leadership, professional reputation, disciplinary history, and, if available, outcomes data. Also considered in the review process are the physician’s interpersonal skills, such as listening and communicating effectively, demonstrating empathy, and instilling trust and confidence.
“Dr. Bakes has been a cornerstone of our practice for over 20 years,” Dr. Kozlowski said. “He’s exceptional at what he does and continually goes the extra mile in the emergency room. It’s no surprise to see him recognized again as one of the state’s top physicians.”
- Mark Kozlowski, MD, CarePoint CEO
Dr. Bakes, who practices at HCA HealthONE Swedish (Englewood, CO), graduated summa cum laude from Duke University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. After graduating from Harvard Medical School and completing his emergency medicine residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in California, he worked at Harbor-UCLA for a year. He joined CarePoint in 2001, where he has practiced ever since.
Dr. Bakes played a key role in launching CarePoint’s Physician Assistant program in 2005, supporting onboarding and educational initiatives for several years. The program was created by Mark Kozlowski, MD, now CarePoint’s CEO.
Over the past year, Dr. Bakes has also served on Swedish’s ED Operations Committee, which he and the hospital’s other emergency medicine physicians created to give clinicians a voice and a forum to make meaningful patient- and provider-centered enhancements to emergency department processes.
“Dr. Bakes has been a cornerstone of our practice for over 20 years,” Dr. Kozlowski said. “He’s exceptional at what he does and continually goes the extra mile in the emergency room. It’s no surprise to see him recognized again as one of the state’s top physicians.”
