Ribbon Cutting Event for New Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital Welcomes Community

Nearly 7,500 guests were welcomed last week during pre-opening celebrations of the new Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge, Colo.,  thanking leaders and donors and giving them a look inside the new 620,000-square-foot hospital.

Intermountain Lutheran Hospital President Andrea Burch joined Wheat Ridge Mayor Bud Starker and local chambers of commerce for a ribbon cutting at the hospital entrance on Saturday, July 20th. Doors were then opened for guided tours, where guests viewed areas such as the emergency room,  neonatal intensive care unit, the labor and delivery unit, and main lobby. Entertainment in the parking lot along with educational booths from different hospital departments and Intermountain Health Medical Group were also provided.

The new campus will replace the current Lutheran Medical Center which was built in 1961 and located about 3.5 miles to the east. That hospital campus was founded in 1905 as a tuberculosis sanitorium.

“The truth is that even a renovation would not have brought us the same benefits as starting from scratch and building the hospital over,” Burch said at the Saturday event. New construction will accommodate advanced technology today and into the future.

Burch also highlighted the improved access to Lutheran Hospital, which currently has one of Colorado’s busiest emergency rooms, she said. Originally built amid farmland, now the campus is surrounded by homes and businesses which increased traffic. The new hospital is conveniently located off Interstate 70 and 40th Avenue. This will aid patients, as well as emergency medical services.

The new hospital also has a helipad on its roof with direct access to the trauma rooms, labor and delivery, and stroke care.

The new hospital design is more efficient with procedural areas close together and the heart cath lab close to the emergency room.

“This is better for patients and staff,” Burch said.

Much like the current hospital, the new Lutheran facility will have 226 licensed beds and maintain its Level 2 trauma designation. It will continue to be the only hospital in Jefferson County that delivers babies.

Burch said she was especially proud of the art project at the new hospital. Of the more than 600 pieces of art to be installed, nearly all were created by residents of Wheat Ridge or Colorado.

The new hospital is scheduled to open Aug. 3 when the former emergency room will close at 6 a.m. and the new one will open. At 8 a.m., caregivers, with about 20 ambulances, will move an estimated 180 patients from the former hospital to the new location.

For more information on the facility, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/locations/intermountain-health-lutheran-hospital.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.