Catholic Health World

Catholic facilities partner on orthopedic hospitals

Two orthopedic hospitals that are affiliated with the Catholic health ministry are slated to open within the next year — one in Denver, and the other, in Phoenix.

St. Anthony Central Hospital of Denver is one of the partners backing the 48-bed OrthoColorado Hospital that is opening in August. It will be located on a new St. Anthony campus that is going up in Lakewood, Colo. St. Anthony's par-
ent company, Centura Health, has a 60 percent stake in the $60 million hospital. The other project partners are Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center and a group of orthopedic surgeons.

The OrthoColorado Hospital will have an emergency room. Its staff of about 120 will include pastoral care workers.

Jude Torchia, chief executive of Ortho-Colorado, said the new facility will adhere to the core values of Centura's sponsors, one of which is Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. For instance, Torchia said, the facility will serve all people, regardless of their ability to pay.

Catholic Healthcare West of San Francisco is a minority investor in the Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital that is slated to open in Phoenix in January 2011. Partnering with the Catholic system on the $57 million project are United Surgical Partners International and a group of 37 Phoenix-area surgeons. This 44-room inpatient facility will have eight operating rooms and an intensive care unit.

Catholic Healthcare West and United Surgical Partners previously have partnered on two other orthopedic facilities and two outpatient surgery centers in Phoenix. Administrators at the Catholic system said they are investing in these and similar partnerships in order to diversify and expand the services the system offers to patients, to reduce the cost of care and to provide the right care in the right setting for patients.

Copyright © 2010 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
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