Economy & Economic Development April 3, 2015 8:41:54 pm

UCHealth submits preliminary plans for Longmont hospital

172,000 square-foot facility planned for NW corner of Highway 119 and County Line Road

The aerial view shows the piece of land at the corner of Highway 119 and County Line Road where UCHealth plans to build its 172,000-square-foot hospital. (WHR Architects Inc.)

By Doug Storum

LONGMONT — University of Colorado Health plans to build its previously announced hospital in east Longmont at the northwest corner of County Line Road and Colorado Highway 119, according to documents the health-care organization sent Thursday to the city’s planning department.

UCHealth announced last month that it would build a hospital in Longmont that will have between 50 and 75 beds. The cost of the project will range between $100 million and $125 million. UCHealth expects to break ground this year with a projected opening in late 2016 or early 2017.

UCHealth representatives are scheduled to submit preliminary documents to the planning department Wednesday, April 8, according to Ian Colby, who works in the planning department.

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CLICK TO SEE LARGER. The above preliminary plans were submitted to the city of Longmont by UCHealth, and show the proposed layout of a new 172,000-square-foot hospital to be built on the east side of town. (WHR Architects Inc.) — CLICK TO ENLARGE. The above preliminary plans were submitted to the city of Longmont by UCHealth, and show the proposed layout of a new 172,000-square-foot hospital to be built on the east side of town. (WHR Architects Inc.)

UCHealth plans to develop 32 acres of the 45-acre property that is due east of the Fox Hill Country Club and Golf Course. Landowner FHC Investors LLC had been planning to develop the vacant property as the Fox Hill Shopping Center. UCHealth spokesman Dan Weaver said the land deal is final, but was unable to provide the sale price. The deal, as of Friday afternoon, had not yet been filed with the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s office.

Weaver said hospital officials are still gathering input from physicians of the Longmont Clinic, city of Longmont officials and the community that will affect final plans.

According to the documents, the project consists of a three-story acute-care hospital providing surgery, imaging, emergency medicine, labor and delivery, and inpatient nursing.

The hospital is approximately 172,000 square feet of new construction, including approximately 47,500 square feet of shell space that will be used for future expansion. The project will include a one-story, 16,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center. The site also will include a heliport that will be used to transport emergency patients to other acute-care hospitals.

The hospital will be supported by an attached 12,000-square-foot utility plant.

UCHealth will construct a public road that extends northward from the existing access point on Highway 119 along the eastern edge of the city’s existing electrical substation where it will intersect with a proposed east-west street that terminates at a new access point on County Line Road.

CLICK TO SEE LARGER. The image shows a view from the southwest of UCHealth's planned Longmont hospital. (WHR Architects Inc.) — CLICK TO ENLARGE. The image shows a view from the southwest of UCHealth’s planned Longmont hospital. (WHR Architects Inc.)

The site plan also shows the realignment of the Oligarchy Ditch that runs through the property and addition of the planned Greenway to coincide with the alignment of the proposed roads.

UCHealth’s new hospital is expected to create approximately 500 construction jobs. Once completed, the hospital will provide approximately 200 permanent jobs.

UCHealth operates Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland and University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. BizWest also reported last month that UCHealth appears to be tied to a new hospital being built in Broomfield by Texas-based Adeptus Health.

UCHealth recently paid $11.5 million for the Longmont Clinic at 1925 Mountain View Ave. That clinic is across the street from Longmont United Hospital, which plans to affiliate with Centura Health, becoming the 16th hospital in the state to join the health-care provider.