Colorado Springs, Colo. (April 5, 2017) – UCHealth Memorial Hospital North broke ground this week on a major expansion to offer new, advanced services for patients – a project that has expanded beyond the original scope and coincides with the hospital’s 10th anniversary.

Due in part to increased demand for health care at the campus, the project has grown from $85 million to more than $110 million, expanding the hospital to more than 110 inpatient beds.

The expansion and new tower at Memorial Hospital North will provide:

• Additional women’s care and birth center services including 2 C-section ORs.
• Nine additional emergency department rooms including two more trauma suites.
• Two additional general surgery operating rooms.
• Additional acute-care and ICU inpatient beds.

These services, some of which have expanded beyond the original scope of the project, will allow Memorial Hospital North to significantly expand the birth center, level III trauma center and surgical specialties including an orthopedic and spine surgery program.

“UCHealth is committed to the Colorado Springs region and to providing the very best care to our patients. We have expanded the original scope of this project because the demand for specialized care has grown so rapidly,” said UCHealth Memorial President and CEO Joel Yuhas. “This investment follows more than $130 million spent since 2012 in new technology, expanded facilities and additional services for the Pikes Peak region.”

From fiscal year 2014-2016, inpatient admissions grew more than 60 percent at Memorial Hospital North, and births increased more than 20 percent. Outpatient visits tripled during this time, underscoring the need for further development.

“Memorial has become a true regional referral center, drawing people from throughout southern Colorado and northern New Mexico,” said Dr. Jose Melendez, UCHealth Memorial chief medical officer. “We offer the most advanced cancer and cardiology care in southern Colorado, and Memorial is the only hospital able to provide comprehensive stroke capabilities for patients in Colorado Springs. We are excited about this expansion and about Memorial’s future.”

This project follows other UCHealth investments including a cardiac catheterization lab and radiation oncology building. The UCHealth Cancer Center at Memorial Hospital North now provides clinical trials and other advanced treatments including stereotactic radiosurgery capabilities, a treatment used to reach tumors that are inoperable or difficult to treat. As part of UCHealth, the new cancer center offers access to Colorado’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center program – one of only 47 in the United States.

The design of the expansion will complement plans by Children’s Hospital Colorado to build a full-service pediatric hospital on the UCHealth Memorial North campus. The hospitals will collaborate to ensure the community has access to advanced adult and pediatric care on the same campus, and both projects are expected to be completed in 2018 or early 2019.

Memorial Hospital North opened as a small, community hospital in April 2007 and has since transformed into a full-service hospital. Plans for a 10th birthday celebration are underway.