RM Hospital for Children opens Loveland facility

LOVELAND — Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, a pediatric hospital affiliated with Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver, has opened a facility in Loveland at 1808 N. Boise Ave.

The facility celebrated its ribbon cutting this week and plans a public open house May 4 when community members will be able to meet the specialists who will practice at the Loveland location.

Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children formed in 1990 when 13 pediatric doctors left Children’s Hospital of Colorado because they wanted to practice medicine differently, said Anna Davis, vice president of Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. The hospital operates from its headquarters at Presbyterian as well as from the five other HealthOne hospitals in the Denver area. The Loveland location is the first in Northern Colorado.

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Pediatric specialists from the hospital will travel to Loveland with affiliated staff members on a schedule or as local pediatric doctors determine a need. The hospital will work in conjunction with Banner Health’s McKee Medical Center and other providers in the community, Davis said.

“Our mission is to consolidate pediatric care in the North Front Range in partnership with Banner. We’re trying to elevate and enhance the care that’s available locally,” she said. “We hope to keep patients in their hometown as much as we can, and we want to be collaborative, not competitive, with local providers,” she said.

Specialists will be available at various times of the week. Pediatric specialties will include ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; general surgery; endocrinology; pulmonology; neurology; and maternal fetal medicine.

“We use only board-certified, advanced-practice specialists,” she said.

Patients coming to the Loveland facility will often be referred from local pediatricians. Davis said the specialists treating patients there will consult with local doctors if care needs to be elevated with patients then moving to McKee Medical Center or a facility in Denver depending on the circumstances.

“We have the largest Level 4 NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] in the region [at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s,] she said.

Jenna Cole will be the pediatric director of service lines and will oversee operations of the Loveland facility.

“We expect the practice to grow over time. We’re already talking about opening a Greeley site and hope to have that available by late summer,” Davis said.

The Loveland location “is the answer to a request from a number of providers. We’re excited to be able to serve more patients and grow our presence and collaboration along the North Front Range,” Davis said.