Construction to Link Two Colorado Springs Hospitals
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Construction is slated to begin next month on an expansion to the pediatric hospital operated by Aurora, Colo.-based Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s) and a four-story addition to UCHealth Memorial Hospital North (Memorial). Both projects are located in Colorado Springs and are scheduled to open in 2018.
The projects will together cost nearly $200 million and will be built by Colorado Springs-based GE Johnson Construction Co. Houston-based Fkp Architects will work on the children’s hospital while Houston-based Whr Architects will work on UCHealth Memorial Hospital North.
The projects are separate from one another but take place on the same construction site and will be linked by a three-story connection starting in the basement. Each construction project will work to lower energy-related costs by incorporating LED lights, energy-efficient HVAC systems and heat reflective windows, according to a statement.
“We are excited to expand crucial health care services and offer the residents of northern El Paso and southern Douglas counties expert care, close to their homes,” according to Memorial Spokesperson Cary Vogrin in a statement.
The Memorial expansion will break ground on Sept. 16 and is scheduled for completion by summer of 2018, while the children’s hospital is set to open in the fall or winter of 2018, according to a statement.
“The work beginning in September [for Memorial] will include parking lot changes to allow continued operation during construction of Memorial’s 100-acre north campus northeast of Union Boulevard and Briargate Parkway that includes an existing 88-bed hospital and adjacent medical office building,” said Vogrin in a statement.
Memorial’s $85 million, 130,000-square-foot addition will include 20 inpatient beds, eight exam rooms in the emergency department and two operating rooms, and will primarily house women’s and oncology services, according to a statement.
In addition, Children’s Hospital Colorado announced in June that it had expanded the size of the $110 million Colorado Springs hospital to 280,000 square feet from 170,000 square feet. The expanded pediatric hospital will include 98 patient rooms, 21 emergency room beds, up to eight operating rooms, a sleep study lab, and 10 to 12 beds and exam rooms for inpatient and outpatient cancer treatment, according to Greg Raymond, Children’s regional vice president for Southern Colorado.
“Our team has spent their careers focused on developing expertise in pediatrics. We want a facility that matches that and positions our team members to function at the top of their skills,” Raymond said in a statement.