UCHealth forges partnership with Adeptus Health

University of Colorado Health said Tuesday it planned to acquire a majority stake in Adeptus Health’s (NYSE: ADPT) freestanding emergency rooms throughout Northern Colorado, Colorado Springs and the Denver Metro area.

Adeptus Health owns and operates First Choice Emergency Room, the nation’s oldest and largest network of freestanding emergency room facilities. All 12 Colorado locations, and two more under construction, are included in the partnership and will be renamed UCHealth ER.

Later this year, these facilities will participate in UCHealth’s electronic medical record system to ensure seamless care between the emergency facility and the hospital. The UCHealth and Adeptus Health partnership also will include possible hospital locations planned for Colorado Springs and Denver.

BizWest first reported the possibility of a deal between Adeptus and UCHealth earlier this year. UCHealth’s announcement comes amid continued rapid expansion of the 3-year-old system formed by the merger of University of Colorado Hospital and Poudre Valley Health. UCHealth also plans to build a hospital in east Longmont at the northwest corner of County Line Road and Colorado Highway 119.

Texas-based Adeptus, meanwhile, is the company behind a planned 52-bed general hospital in Broomfield that could be completed by spring of 2016.

Financial terms of the deal announced Tuesday were not disclosed.

“Providing the highest level of care, close to home for our patients, is one of UCHealth’s priorities,” said Elizabeth Concordia, UCHealth president and CEO, in statement. “Partnering with Adeptus Health allows patients to receive care in a more convenient way, while also offering seamless transfers to hospitals for patients who need hospitalization.”

“Partnerships with leading healthcare systems are a key element of our strategic growth plan,” said Thomas S. Hall, chairman and CEO of Adeptus Health, in a statement. “We are pleased to join forces with UCHealth, our second hospital partner, as we continue to enhance access to the highest quality medical care in more communities.”

Dr. Richard Zane, UCHealth’s executive director of emergency services and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will have a key role in clinical operations and quality at all UCHealth ER locations in Colorado.

“Freestanding emergency facilities provide excellent care and convenience for many patients needing acute, episodic or unscheduled medical care, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Zane said in the statement. “Importantly, patients will also have access to UCHealth’s full spectrum of specialty services.”

The partnership will allow UCHealth ER locations to provide care to a larger number of Medicare and Medicaid patients in 2016.

on Facebook on LinkedIn