By December 2014, Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in downtown Denver plans to complete a $623 million campus redevelopment project that will replace the current structure that was built in the 1960s with a facility designed for today's needs.
The new hospital will be built on the existing campus. The current facility, which has 380 staffed beds, will be used until the new 348-bed hospital is complete. The old patient towers then will be demolished. Other legacy structures, though, will be preserved.
Bain Farris is Exempla Saint Joseph president and chief executive. He said that while other hospitals have fled downtown Denver for the suburbs, Exempla Saint Joseph is making this renewed investment. He said the hospital "is committed to serving the people of Denver and the surrounding metro area from our central Denver location."
Last month Exempla Saint Joseph's sponsors, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System of Lenexa, Kan., and the Denver Planning Board approved the project. The hospital is preparing the site now and plans to break ground in December.
Referencing the 138-year history of the hospital's foundresses, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, in Denver, Farris said, "To continue our mission, this is the time to redevelop our campus to improve upon and complement the urban character of the neighborhood, and most importantly to bring a new cost-effective, operationally efficient hospital to serve Denver."
Copyright © 2011 by the Catholic Health Association
of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby
or call (314) 253-3477.