By
BETSY TAYLOR
Denver-based SCL Health System and The Woodlands, Texas-based emergency care
provider Emerus will begin construction in 2014 on the first of four new
Denver-region community hospitals, each with less than 10 inpatient beds,
representatives said.
The hospitals will offer emergency medical care, inpatient care, surgical
procedures and comprehensive health services like those at SCL Health System's
larger campus facilities. Each location also will have on-site diagnostics,
including laboratory and radiology services such as X-ray, CT scan and
ultrasound capabilities. The new facilities will be equipped to respond to
almost any medical issue, including those that may be life threatening and
require critical care or surgical intervention, SCL Health System said. The
hospitals will be staffed by physicians, nurses and other clinical specialists.
They'll be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The new hospitals have not yet been named. They will be part of SCL Health
System's network of hospitals in this region of Colorado, which includes Exempla
Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in
Wheat Ridge and Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver.
"We are evolving our health ministry to best meet the needs of our patients
where they live, work and play," said Michael Slubowski, president and chief
executive of SCL Health System, in a statement. "By placing access to care
closer to our patients, we are extending our quality, compassionate care beyond
our hospital doors and deeper into our communities."
The hospitals will be branded as part of SCL Health System, said Cheston
Turbyfill, SCL Health System director of public affairs. The hospitals will be
staffed to treat patients of any acuity level, but patients in need of extensive
or long-term treatment will be transferred to a larger hospital. The new
hospitals will abide by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic
Health Care Services, he said.
SCL Health System is a minority partner in the agreement with Emerus, which
will manage and staff the small hospitals, according to Turbyfill. Financial
details of the arrangement and costs of the hospitals have not been
disclosed.
Dr. Toby Hamilton, Emerus' chief executive, said, "We are honored to partner
with SCL Health System as they begin to expand their footprint throughout the
Denver metro area. As we see changes coming under the Affordable Care Act, SCL
Health's strategy represents a new, innovative approach to providing quality,
accessible medicine."
Turbyfill said at a time when there's increased focus on meeting the health
needs of populations of people, having small hospitals throughout the region
should be more convenient for patients. "It's a way of providing more access for
people," he said.
The first of these community hospitals is projected to open in the last
quarter of 2014 in Westminster, a community about 20 miles southeast of Boulder,
Colo. The system has not released a time frame for when the other three
hospitals will open. The initiative is expected to create more than 200 new jobs
in the Denver area, according to those involved with the new hospitals.
SCL Health System is a Catholic, $2.2 billion nonprofit that operates nine
hospitals, four safety net clinics, one children's mental health center and more
than 190 ambulatory service centers in four states: Colorado, Kansas, Montana
and California.
It was founded by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.
Emerus says it specializes in the identification, development and management
of "improved-access" medical facilities. The business, which has about 600
employees, partners with health care systems throughout the country, and says
its community-based approach prioritizes limited inpatient stays, efficient
emergency rooms and cost-effective pricing in a smaller campus setting.
Copyright © 2013 by the Catholic Health Association
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