Banner to invest $50 million in McKee

LOVELAND — Banner Health System on Thursday announced plans for a $50 million expansion at Loveland’s McKee Medical Center. The announcement comes nearly a week after Fort Collins-based Poudre Valley Health System revealed its own plans for a regional hospital in collaboration with Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, Neb., that would likely be located in Northern Colorado’s Interstate 25 corridor.

“The timing makes it seem like we’re responding to Poudre Valley’s plan, and in a sense we are,´ said Scott Bosch, CEO of Banner Health System Colorado Region, which owns and operates McKee Medical Center along with several other health-care facilities in the region. Bosch said the expansion is part of the Phoenix-based health system’s long-range plan that has been in development for years. “It’s pretty clear the community and medical staff needs to know what we’re doing,” he said. “What we do could effect what Poudre does.”

Expected to be completed in two to three years, the Banner-funded improvements will add about 50 beds, bringing total capacity to 150, and expand the intensive-care and surgical units, laboratory services and emergency department at McKee. Bosch said that the plan does not include upgrading McKee’s Level 3 trauma designation.

With population increases expected to average 3 percent to 4 percent per year, Bosch said the expansion will help meet the region’s future health-care needs.

Rulon Stacey, CEO for Poudre Valley Health Systems, agrees with Bosch that the Loveland expansion is necessary.

“We’ve known all along that McKee needs more space,” Stacey said. “I don’t know if it will have an impact on what we’re doing, but we’ll throw it in the mix and see what happens.”

Poudre’s current vision includes about 145 beds in a Level 2 trauma center specializing in three major services: neurosurgery, cardiac care and trauma care.

One basic difference between Level 2 and Level 3 trauma centers is that Level 2 emergency rooms have surgeons available immediately upon patient arrivals, while Level 3 centers must be able to provide surgeons within 20 minutes to stabilize patients and, if necessary, prepare them for transfer to a higher-level trauma center.

“We’re trying to take care of the patients who have to get flown out of Loveland for care in Denver or somewhere else,” Stacey said. “We would like to provide a better option for people who have to leave Loveland, so off hand I don’t think this would impact us.”

Banner also owns East Morgan County Hospital in Brush, Sterling’s Regional Medical Center and operates North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley. Last year, after conflicts of interest between NCMC’s board and Banner officials were revealed, NCMC halted contract negotiations with Banner and hired a consultant to explore other options, including possible collaboration with Poudre Valley. NCMC met with PVH officials several weeks ago for discussions and has also met with Banner officials several times, but a decision has yet to be announced.

on Facebook on LinkedIn