Additional healthcare services will be available to the community as UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital broke ground to add two new buildings to the campus.
In its four years of being open, the Highlands Ranch location regularly operates at capacity.
“Our beds are full all the time, our operating rooms are fully booked,” said Merle Taylor, UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital president. “We do need more space and we are recognizing that people want to be here in this hospital.”
Having exceeded projected expectations for a 10-year plan in under five years, according to Taylor, the hospital is preparing for continued growth through the expansion.
Currently the hospital has 93 inpatient beds and features a birth center, a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, eight operating rooms, a Level III trauma center and emergency department.
The hospital also includes a two-story cancer center with advanced oncology services.
On the top floor of the existing building, there will be a 31,687 square feet buildout dedicated to shelled space for additional beds and operating rooms.
Construction is already underway on a new 194,000 square foot hospital tower on the east side of the current building.
The tower will include 14 new beds in the emergency department, one dedicated to caring for victims of domestic violence or assault as part of the existing sexual assault nurse examiner program.
“They’re private,” said Taylor. “It will set off from the others so it can be more for the patient, more confidential.”
The tower will also include an expanded outpatient lab as well as an expansion to the oncology and stroke programs.
Aiming to expand their spine, urology and cardiology programs, there will be a new spine program and electrophysiology lab.
The electrophysiology lab will focus on the electricity of the heart, allowing the hospital to perform more cardiac procedures such as putting in pacemakers.
Construction on a new medical office building will begin in Sept.
In addition to physician offices and a physical therapy space, the building will feature an outpatient surgery center and an imaging center which will include x-rays, MRI’s, CT scans and cardiac imaging.
“There’s a need for more of the inpatient capacity, so we shift the outpatient capacity to another part of the campus that allows us to provide more for inpatients,” said Taylor.
With an expected completion date of late 2025, the construction will be done in phases. Taylor said the community shouldn’t feel much difference as there will be minimum disruption. Parking for the staff has been moved to accommodate for the new buildings.
Additionally, the hospital will hire more nurses and techs, said Taylor.
The expansion is estimated to cost $119 million.
According to Taylor, the expansion is a way to keep people in the community instead of having to travel to the Anschutz Medical Center.
“So as we grow our program here, more and more services will be here, more people in the community will be able to remain at this hospital rather than having to be transferred,” said Taylor. “There’s a lot of things that we could bring to this community as we grow the facility and grow our programs, get new physicians and get new physicians out here.”