Hospitals vie for market share with mergers, construction

New and planned hospitals and stand-alone emergency rooms along the northern Front Range are coming mainly as a result of the federal Affordable Care Act, the head of the Colorado Hospital Association said.

Aging Baby Boomers and a growing population that potentially needs more services are also a factor in health-care industry changes, said Steven Summer, president and chief executive of the Colorado Hospital Association. National payment reform and insurance coverage changes brought on by the Affordable Care Act are other driving factors, Summer said.

All the new construction is not as frenetic as it may…