Denver Business Journal: UCHealth to add a mountain hospital to its growing system

Costs are too high to sustain care services alone, the hospital said.

UCHealth is expanding again, this time adding an Estes Park hospital to its network.

Estes Park Health (EPH) signed a letter of intent to join UCHealth next year, with completion of the merger expected in the spring, the two systems announced.

EPH requested the deal in the face of rising costs that have forced the hospital to cut or reduce care programs, the organizations said Wednesday. EPH said it has transferred or reduced services for obstetrics, home health and hospice.

Last year, the EPH special district — called Park Hospital District — voted to authorize the hospital joining a larger health system, with 80% of voters supporting the move, according to the announcement.

UCHealth pledged to invest more than $30 million in the hospital and Estes Park community in coming years. The system will also evaluate opportunities to expand virtual health programs and behavioral health services in the area, it said.

UCHealth has long partnered with EPH to expand benefits to that hospital’s community. In addition to offering partnerships with Poudre Valley Hospital and Medical Center of the Rockies, UCHealth said earlier this year that EPH entered into an IT contract with UCHealth.

UCHealth CEO Elizabeth Concordia, in a recent interview with the Denver Business Journal, said that her health system’s recent growth has been mostly due to the fact that some smaller hospitals cannot afford to stay open on their own.

“We certainly aren’t looking to merge, integrate, acquire a large number of hospitals,” Concordia said during the interview.

Rather, she said the hospital system’s top priority is ensuring that health care in Colorado is as stable as possible. Concordia cited UCHealth’s absorption of Pueblo-based Parkview Health late last year as another example. UCHealth added two hospitals to its system with the agreement and committed $200 million to shoring up Parkview facilities and finances.

A recent report by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform listed over a dozen Colorado hospitals, including EPH, with negative patient margins and warned that several hospitals face an immediate risk of closure if their margins continue to falter.

More than half of EPH’s patients are covered by Medicare, Medicaid or are uninsured, according to the release.

Once the agreement with UCHealth is complete, EPH will add 320 staff members and providers to the UCHealth network’s 34,000 employees.

The Park Hospital District will remain intact, with revenues funneled locally to support the services and patient care provided in the Estes Valley.