DENVER — After more than 40 years in journalism, holding the powerful accountable, asking tough questions and getting answers, Denver7 Chief Investigative Reporter Tony Kovaleski will retire at the start of 2026.
Tony’s career has spanned much of the western U.S. with stops at news stations in Eureka, Calif., Reno, Nevada, Phoenix, Houston and San Francisco. But he spent more than 20 years at Denver7 in two stints, first starting in 2001.
Although he’s won numerous awards — including the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, national Edward R. Murrow award and 50 local Emmys — Tony has more importantly brought change to the community and given a voice to those who saw something was wrong.
A Denver7 30-minute special on his career highlights some of Tony’s most memorable moments and stories that set the agenda and made a difference in Denver. You can watch the special in the video player above.
“There’s a passion, there's curiosity, and you have to like journalism,” Tony told former Denver7 Investigative Reporter John Ferrugia in an interview as part of this news special. “The more you do it, the more you in enjoy doing it because you;re giving a voice to people who are saying ‘I can’t get the answers, I can’t get the accountability that this issues deserves.’”
33 Minutes to 34 Right
Perhaps no story had more of an impact than Tony's reporting at Denver International Airport after he reported on the death of a 38-year-old father of two, Mark Elgin, who died near one of the gates in concourse B while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Six months later, he learned that it took Denver Health ambulances 33 minutes to reach the scene after Continental Flight 1404 slid off runway 34 Right and caught fire on Dec. 20, 2008 with 115 people on board.
This story on long response times to the airport first started with a call from key sources – including a paramedic whistleblower – exposing the risks at the airport.
Denver Health launched a blue-ribbon committee to analyze what happened with Elgin to see if dedicated ambulances were necessary.
The aftermath of those stories led to the city permanently stationing two ambulances at the airport. Sources today still tell Tony that those ambulances save lives every month.
In the videos below, see a Denver7 Investigates special: 33 Minutes to 34 Right
33 minutes to 34 right- part 1
33 minutes to 34 right- part 2
Aundrea’s Final Ride/Delayed and Diverted
That would not be the last time Tony reported on Denver Health’s paramedic division.
More than a decade later, informed insiders came forward, saying that paramedics were pressured to bypass closer level one trauma centers to bring critical patients back to Denver Health for care.
Those insiders helped Tony find the mother of Aundrea Plunkett, an 11-year-old girl who was hit by a car in front of her home in Sheridan in 2016.
Instead of taking her to Swedish Hospital, 2 miles away, Denver Health paramedics drove for 17 minutes in rush hour traffic to Denver Health. Aundrea later died from her injuries.
More than a half dozen paramedics came forward during Tony's reporting to expose the culture in the division, noting that their superiors would question their decisions if they took patients to a hospital other than Denver Health. However, if they took the patient to Denver Health, there would be no questions, regardless of the outcome.
Several more reports followed, exposing extreme delays in response times to medical emergencies, in some cases leaving Denver firefighters waiting on scene for more than 20 minutes.
City leaders later got involved. A year later, the hospital’s CEO retired, the medical director of the paramedic division stepped down and the hospital made significant changes.
See Denver7 Investigates specials: Aundrea's Final Ride and Delayed and Diverted: Denver's Cry for Help
Aundrea’s Final Ride
Delayed and Diverted: Denver’s cry for help
Dying for Help/Immediate Jeopardy
As with some of the Denver Health paramedics coming forward, some of Tony’s sources risk their jobs by speaking out and do so with their identity hidden and their voices disguised.
Anonymous sources came forward in 2024 to let Denver7 Investigates know that an agent with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was, they felt, receiving preferential treatment after he was discovered using a racial slur on body-worn camera.
Another big story that involved several key sources coming forward involved a mental hospital in northern Colorado, roughly 50 miles north of Denver.
After a patient at Clear View Behavioral Health contacted Denver7 Investigates regarding his treatment at the facility, the floodgates opened. Nearly five dozen parents, patients and current and former employees spoke to Tony, saying that patients were kept longer than necessary to bring in more insurance money, among other complaints.
One patient, Tibor Hetei, died in 2017 after receiving a dangerous cocktail as a tranquilizer. It was a death that multiple sources said was preventable.
After 20 months of reporting and several state and federal investigations, Clear View closed its doors in 2020.
However, 10 months later, a new mental health hospital, Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health, opened in the same building.
And Tony learned that the new facility had many of the same problems, including patients being held longer than needed, staffing shortages and another death.
One former nurse, called the hospital a “sh**hole” and said people were lucky to get out of there alive.
Tony also learned from sources that the state was tipping off the hospital before coming in for what are supposed to be surprise inspections.
The state’s Department of Public Health and Environment and governor’s office repeatedly denied interview requests with Tony on the matter, but he did eventually get answers from Gov. Jared Polis, meeting him at a public event and asking questions.
Still, after the patient’s death, a state inspection resulted in 20 violations and Johnstown Heights was placed on “immediate jeopardy” status, the most serious designation the state has for a mental health hospital.
The state never did shut down Johnstown Heights, but it closed earlier in 2025 with owners calling it a business decision.
See Denver7 Investigates specials: Dying for Help: A Mental Health Crisis in Clear View and Immediate Jeopardy: Uncovering secrets inside Colorado's Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health
Dying for Help: A Mental Health Crisis in Clear View
Immediate Jeopardy: Uncovering secrets inside Colorado's Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health
Out of bounds
While Tony has done many interviews throughout his career, some of those are not scheduled ahead of time, as was the case with Polis on Johnstown Heights.
Tony has often met powerful people, public officials and those needing to be held accountable in public after they have refused interview requests.
In one instance, Tony met a manager at a Party City location, who had been caught secretly filming a female employee while she was changing her clothes for a photo shoot in the manager's office. He was fired and later arrested.
One notable unscheduled interview took place in northern California at the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Club and Resort.
Tony learned that the governor-appointed board of directors of Pinnacol Assurance – a quasi-governmental insurance agency specializing in workman’s compensation – had taken an all-expense paid trip to play golf and tour wineries, with some lawmakers calling the expedition a “boondoggle.”
Tony met the board chairman just off the 18th green and had a tense back-and-forth with now former-CEO Ken Ross.
After those reports, the governor appointed new leadership and Ross was docked a six-figure bonus check and later resigned.
See Denver7 Investigates special: Out of Bounds at Pebble Beach
Out of Bounds at Pebble Beach Part I
Out of Bounds at Pebble Beach Part II
Shining a light
Many of Tony’s most impactful reports involve shining a light on something that might have otherwise fallen through the cracks.
In 2007, one such story walked through the doors of Denver7 as employees of the Colorado Humane Society brought in some concerning information.
They told Tony that the organization was disposing of euthanized pets and other animals in Dumpsters, posing a risk to other animals in the area and violating the wishes of some of the pet owners.
After months of reporting and an investigation that included Tony and Denver7 producers going into the trash bins and discovering the remains, the management was ousted and the state stepped in, forcing the Humane Society owners to close their doors.
See a Denver7 News Report: Colorado Humane Society: Serious Problems Uncovered
Now, not everyone, especially some subjects of investigations, appreciated Tony’s reports. But Tony says that the most important feedback he receives is from those who trusted him to tell their story and bring to light important issues.
And those relationships that he built is what he’ll carry into retirement in early 2026.
“I’m looking back on 40 years and I’m so very thankful,” he said.
