Estes Park Health Urgent Care Center

Construction site with excavators, portable toilets, and large containers. Signs indicate the presence of a construction company. Trees and homes are visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

Anticipated Opening is February/March 2020

You may have noticed the huge hole in the ground across from the Safeway Gas Station on Steamer Drive. That building project is the future home of Alarado Business Park. Estes Park Health will be leasing space on the first floor of the building for the new Urgent Care Center Service Line.

“Our goal at Estes Park Health is to meet the community’s health care needs for our diverse population of full-time residents, summer residents and visitors,” states Larry Leaming, Chief Executive Officer of Estes Park Health. Estes Park Health identified that the urgent care needs in the Estes Valley are expected to grow 16% by 2022. One of the key initiatives in the Estes Park Health Strategic Plan is to develop an urgent care service line to open a greater level of access to all health care needs and create an affordable urgent care option.

Why does the Estes Valley need an Urgent Care Center?

Currently, one option for walk-in health care after Estes Park Health Physician Walk-in Clinic hours (8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday) is the Estes Park Health Emergency Department. This is an expensive option for care if only urgent care is needed.  Many insurance companies are not paying emergency department fees for conditions that only require urgent care. Nationally, urgent care is growing as a timely and cost-effective health care option positioned between standard physician clinic visits and emergency care.

The Estes Park Health Emergency Department is well prepared to deal with true emergencies that involve life-threatening conditions. Urgent care is a service that is focused on delivering minor, yet urgent, care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional hospital emergency department.  Urgent care centers primarily treat injuries or illnesses that require immediate care, but are not serious enough to require a visit to the emergency department. Some examples include:

  • Accidents and falls
  • Cuts that don’t involve much blood but might need stitches
  • Breathing difficulties, such as mild to moderate asthma
  • Diagnostic services, including X-rays and laboratory tests
  • Eye irritation and redness
  • Fever or flu
  • Minor broken bones and fractures in fingers or toes
  • Moderate back problems
  • Severe sore throat or cough
  • Skin rashes and infections
  • Sprains and strains
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Vomiting, diarrhea, or dehydration

Will the building only house the Urgent Care Center?

The current plan, under construction, is for a 43,000 square foot building with approximately 14,000 square feet on the first floor.  The developers, owners of several Jimmy Johns sandwich restaurants in the Longmont and Boulder area, intend to use approximately 1,800 square feet of the first floor of the project for another Jimmy Johns.  Estes Park Health intends to lease the remainder of the first floor, or 12,200 square feet.  The remainder of the building, both second and third floors, are intended for two-story employee housing.

Of the 12,200 square feet available for rent, Estes Park Health proposes to use approximately 3,500 for the purposes of an Urgent Care Center.  Another 4,000 square feet is planned for Outpatient Rehabilitation Services, relocated from the first floor of the main hospital.  An additional 2,800 square feet is planned for the Specialty Physicians Clinic, also to be relocated from the main campus. The Specialty Physician Clinic space would principally become available for sub-leasing.  The remainder of the space is used for back office, supplies, staff break rooms.

Who will live in the employee housing?

The employee housing, on the second level of the Alarado Business Park, will be leased by Estes Park businesses who need living spaces for their employees. The units are either two-bed or five-bed units. Each bedroom has its own bathroom and the business’ employees would share the common area including a living space and kitchen. These units cannot be used for anything other than workforce housing.

When will the Urgent Care Center open for business?

The proposed completion of the project is February/March 2020. The Urgent Care Center will be the first to open to the public to serve health care needs. The other services housed in the Estes Park Health leased space, will relocate after the opening of the Urgent Care Center.