Area hospitals, clinics receive top scores in independent rankings

With one of the fittest populations in the country, the Boulder Valley has an abundance of medical facilities.

Hospitals, clinics and wide variety of alternative medicine offices support nearly any ailment via traditional or nontraditional means.

Quality of care is a top priority in the region, with area hospitals and clinics receiving top scores in a variety of independent rankings.

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Four general hospitals serve the region — Boulder Community Hospital in Boulder, Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Longmont United Hospital in Longmont and Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville. The Children’s Hospital Colorado Therapy Care Center operates in Broomfield.

Boulder Community Hospital is the largest hospital in the area with 265 licensed inpatient beds. The hospital had 9,952 inpatient visits and 574,549 outpatient visits in 2011. It has more than 2,350 employees and 607 physicians on its medical staff representing 54 specialties.

The hospital has been recognized for its quality of care for pneumonia and stroke patients by an independent grader Health Grades Inc., based in Denver. Boulder Community also received good grades in cardiac care, critical care and general surgery.

Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center is the second-largest hospital in the region. It can accommodate up to 234 inpatients at once. The hospital cared for 13,058 inpatients and 104,278 outpatients in 2011. It employs 1,445 associates and has 1,025 physicians in 38 specialties.

The nonprofit hospital receives good grades in cardiac and pulmonary care, which were the only two categories on which the hospital was graded by Health Grades. The hospital also offers specialty care in things like occupational therapy and neurosurgery, trauma and gynecology.

About 30 minutes north of Lafayette is Longmont United Hospital, with 201 inpatient beds. With more than 1,200 employees and 315 physicians in 34 specialty areas, Longmont United also has received high marks from Health Grades.

Perhaps more important to those who work there, as well as to patients, the hospital also was named a Planetree Designated Patient-Centered Hospital by the nonprofit consumer group Planetree Inc. in Derby, Connecticut, in 2010. The designation is related to a set of standards of how patients are cared for.

Longmont United had more than 84,000 patient visits and an additional 32,000 emergency room visits in 2011.

Separately, the hospital received a Cardiac Excellence Award for cardiac care. It also received high marks for both pulmonary care and cardiac excellence in 2011 from Health Grades. The nonprofit Health Grades also scored the hospital well on other services, including stroke, respiratory failure and hip fracture repair.

On a more pint-sized scale, the Boulder Valley is home to The Children’s Hospital North Campus in Broomfield which has about 46,000 square feet of space.

While it doesn’t have any inpatient beds, the hospital has 58 full-time employees specializes in behavioral science, audiology, sports medicine and adolescent gynecology and has a surgery center. It serves about 40,000 patients every year.

Broomfield also has the Children’s Hospital Colorado Therapy Care Center, a 20,000-square-foot facility. The center offers physical, occupational and speech therapy for children, as well as neurologic and psychiatric treatment. The center is expected to see more than 22,000 patients per year, according to Children’s Colorado.

In addition to the hospitals, the Boulder Valley has a wide variety of acupuncture, audiology, and chiropractic clinics as well as physical, occupational and massage therapy practices and specialty cardiology facilities.

Founded in 1975, The Boulder College of Massage Therapy might be the most well-known facility. Students at the not-for-profit massage therapy school do about 7,000 discounted massages annually as they go through a certificate program.