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Exempla Healthcare News, including Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital
- Patient Load Strains Denver ERs
Patient load strains Denver ERs Two hospitals' move to Aurora pressures remaining facilities By Myung Oak Kim Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Denver hospitals are seeing more emergency room patients since University of Colorado Hospital and The Children's Hospital moved to Aurora last year. Both hospitals, which are now at the Anschutz Medical Campus near I-225 and Colfax, handled thousands of ER patients a year when they were in Denver. They've also seen more patients at the new location. In Denver, hospital administrators say they prepared for the change. Despite increases in ER visits, patients shouldn't be waiting longer for services, they said. However, observers of local health care say the loss of the two ERs puts more pressure on the remaining emergency rooms in Denver. An independent study is being prepared to measure the impacts, both on emergency rooms and other hospital services. University of Colorado Hospital relocated in June, and The Children's Hospital moved in September. The impact has been significant at Rose Medical Center on Ninth Avenue near Colorado Boulevard, a former neighbor of University of Colorado Hospital. ER visits have jumped 20 percent, officials report. Emergency rooms at Denver Health and Exempla St. Joseph Hospital have seen more modest increases - five percent each. For Denver Health, at Eighth Avenue and Bannock Street, that translates into an average of about 400 more patients a month at its emergency room and urgent care clinics since last fall, said spokeswoman Dee Martinez. Visits for pediatric urgent care rose 15 percent during that time, she said. The safety-net hospital said it worked hard to increase capacity by adding beds and expanding adult urgent care facilities. The facility also is building a larger new emergency department for children and adults. 'Considerable pressure'"Before the new beds opened, there was considerable pressure on hospital capacity, and the emergency department was often forced to divert ambulances to other facilities," Martinez said. "This has improved somewhat, but the emergency service continues to be very busy." Saint Joseph, at Franklin Street and 18th Avenue, saw an average of just over 200 more patients a month in the ER, said Bruce Adams, emergency department physician medical director. Adams anticipated higher demand and increased staffing and changed procedures to move patients through the hospital more quickly. He said the change hasn't caused problems, and he's already planning for higher patient loads when St. Anthony Central moves to Lakewood in a couple of years. Rose physicians also prepared for the change. Don Lefkowits, medical director of the emergency department, said the hospital renovated its emergency room and added capacity to the intensive care unit. Mayor formed panel The full impact of the hospital relocations have not been studied yet by local organizations. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper formed a panel to analyze the issue. Katherine Archuleta, the mayor's senior adviser on policy and initiatives, said the group is working on a survey to assess long-term and short-term impacts, but the survey hasn't been distributed yet. Ed Kahn is a lawyer at the Colorado Center on Law & Policy, which advocates for better health care, among other issues. He said the decline in emergency rooms in Denver is troubling because the city already faced capacity problems before the two hospitals moved to Aurora. "Having fewer emergency- room beds only increases the pressure on the smaller number that are left," he said. The change means longer waits, and patients "may not be able to go to the nearest emergency room because it may already be full," he said. kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361 Average monthly rise Total annual Hospital in visits after move ER visits Denver Health Medical Center 400 44,000 Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center 120 13,000 St. Joseph Hospital 200 48,000 Rose Medical Center 20 percent* n/a © Rocky Mountain News - Colorado Hospitals, HMO's Saw More Profits in '06
Sunday, April 13, 2008 Report: Colorado hospitals, HMOs saw more profits in '06 Denver Business Journal - by Bob Mook Denver Business Journal Hospitals and HMOs in Colorado enjoyed healthy profits in 2006 and the first half of 2007, according to a report that studies managed care trends and issues in the state. According to the Colorado Managed Care Review 2007, released Friday by Minnesota-based health care analyst Allan Baumgarten, hospitals in the Denver area reported a net income of $475 million in 2006 -- or 9 percent of net patient revenues. Meanwhile, Colorado HMOs posted a net income of $171.9 million -- a profit margin on underwriting revenues of 4.6 percent. Net income for HMOs in 2005 was $73.6 million, or 2.1 percent of underwriting revenues. Among local hospitals, HealthOne-HCA reported profits of $283.7 million in 2006 or 14.1 percent of net patient revenue. Metro Denver's largest health system, HealthOne-HCA owns and operates seven hospitals in the area, Two nonprofit health systems serving the area, Centura Health and Exempla Healthcare, also fared well in 2006. Centura, which operates Saint Anthony Central in Denver and five others in the metro area, reported net income of $55 million -- or 6.2 percent of net patient revenues. Exempla, which manages Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver as well as medical centers in Wheat Ridge and Lafayette, collected net revenues of $60.2 million or 7.4 percent of net patient revenues. The survey showed that HMOs in the state posted record profits in 2006 and the first half of 2007, despite declining enrollment. Among local HMOs, Kaiser Permanente reported the largest revenues in the state with $1.8 billion in 2006 and a net income of $49 million. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's HMO Colorado posted $221.6 million in revenue with a net income of $16.4 million. Enrollment in all Colorado HMOs fell to 972,908 in 2006 -- down 5.6 percent from the previous year. Baumgarten blames the downward enrollment trend on more employers dropping coverage as health coverage becomes more expensive. Baumgarten attributed the increased profitability among the insurers to a consolidation within the industry because fewer insurance companies in the market gives insurers the upper hand in negotiating favorable charges with hospitals. All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved. - Saint Joseph Expansion Moves Ahead
Friday, April 11, 2008 Saint Joseph expansion moves aheadDenver Business Journal - by Bob Mook Denver Busines Journal Kathleen Lavine | Business Journal Sister Melissa Camardo, director of Workforce, Spirituality & Sponsorship Mission Services at St. Joseph’s Hospital, waves at a friend on the sixth floor. View Larger Despite a lawsuit that potentially could set back or scale down the expansion of Denver's Saint Joseph Hospital, the hospital's CEO said the ambitious in-fill project is proceeding as planned -- with a demolition crew already tearing down the former Children's Hospital site where the new site will be located. Robert Minkin, CEO of Saint Joseph Hospital, said the institution is lining up architects and contractors for the planned expansion -- a project once estimated to cost $1 billion. Once the first phase is completed, the new hospital will have 400 beds in individual suites, compared with 390 beds, with some shared rooms, in the old building. But the updated facility will have capacity to grow to 600 beds. However, the overall size and scope of the expansion may depend on what happens in a legal dispute between Saint Joseph's owner, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, and the Exempla Healthcare system, which the Sisters of Charity co-sponsor. Exempla has sued to block a deal that would make the Sisters of Charity the sole owners of Exempla-run hospitals, including Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette. The Sisters of Charity said it's buying the hospitals in part to get the collateral needed to fund renewal efforts, such as the expansion at Saint Joseph Hospital. But Minkin said the expansion will happen regardless of how the litigation settles. "I'm here to tell you [the lawsuits] won't in any way affect the acquisition of the Children's Hospital site," Minkin said. If the Sisters of Charity opt to get out of the Denver market -- leaving Exempla to fund the expansion by itself -- the expansion may occur at a slower pace, Minkin said. But if the Sisters of Charity prevail in the legal battle and take control of all Exempla-managed hospitals, the project will occur more rapidly since the Catholic health system has "deeper pockets," Minkin said. The expansion is set to break ground in spring 2009. All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved. - Fitness Challenge Helps Broomfield Lose Weight
Apr 4, 2008 8:01 am US/Mountain Digg | Facebook | E-mail Close WindowE-mail This PageFitness Challenge Helps Broomfield Lose Weight Fitness Challenge Helps Broomfield Lose Weight Written by Libby Smith, CBS4 Special Projects Producer Reporting Tom Mustin BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) ― The Get Fit, Stay Fit Challenge