UCHealth planning to build hospital in Longmont

LONGMONT — University of Colorado Health said Wednesday it plans to build a hospital in Longmont but has not disclosed the location.

Aurora-based University of Colorado Health will spend between $100 million and $125 million on the hospital. It expects to break ground this year with a projected grand opening in late 2016 or early 2017.

UCHealth recently acquired the Longmont Clinic at 1925 Mountain View Ave. that is across the street from Longmont United Hospital, which last fall announced plans to affiliate with Centura Health. UC Health spokesman Dan Weaver said UCHealth’s hospital will not be built at the Longmont Clinic’s site, but it will be “somewhere within Longmont’s city limits.”

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Longmont mayor pro tem Brian Bagley said in a phone interview that he spoke Wednesday with Dan Robinson, CEO of UCHealth Colorado Health Medical Group. Robinson told Bagley that the location would be on the east side of town off of Highway 119. Bagley said it was unclear whether the site would be within Longmont’s current city limits or whether UCHealth would seek to have a site annexed in.

The new hospital will provide 50 to 75 inpatient beds, an intensive-care unit, operating rooms and an emergency department. Advanced cardiology services and a birth center will also be offered.

“Longmont and Boulder County are growing rapidly, and we’re proud to bring a new hospital to the area to serve patients,” said UCHealth president and chief executive Elizabeth Concordia. “We’re extending the proud tradition of the Longmont Clinic and putting their patients first. This new medical center will provide the highest quality of care while also ensuring an excellent patient experience.”

The new hospital is expected to boost the Longmont economy by providing approximately 500 construction jobs. Once completed, the hospital will provide more than 200 new, permanent jobs.

“As a physician who has cared for patients in Northern Colorado for 25 years, I’m excited that this new hospital will enable us to bring advanced care close to home for patients in Longmont and Boulder County,” said Dr. Bill Neff, UCHealth’s chief medical officer.

UC Health 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.

Longmont United Hospital vice president Peter Powers said that officials there were not surprised by the UCHealth announcement given its purchase of the Longmont Clinic. He said the move does not endanger LUH’s deal with Centura, which he said is expected to be completed by the end of April or early May.

LUH is licensed for 201 beds, but average daily census in 2014 was 86, an indication, Powers said, that area hospitals are under capacity and that adding a new one “seems counter intuitive.” He said UCHealth didn’t identify any services at its new hospital that aren’t already being covered by LUH and other hospitals in Boulder County.

“Adding a fifth hospital in Boulder County does not appear to be in the best interest of the area and only adds to the duplication of services and increases costs to the consumer,” Powers said.

Bagley said he asked Robinson about whether there is room for two hospitals in Longmont. He said Robinson responded that UCHealth’s hospitals are routinely full, and that he didn’t believe a new hospital would negatively impact LUH. Bagley said Robinson was bullish on the area especially considering the growth of Longmont as well as the proximity of Frederick and Firestone to the east.

Reporter Joshua Lindenstein contributed to this report.