| Centennial Medical Plaza | 11 Mins |
| The Medical Center of Aurora - South | 34 Mins |
| North Suburban Medical Center | 32 Mins |
| Presbyterian/St. Lukes Medical Center | 23 Mins |
| Rose Medical Center | 5 Mins |
| Sky Ridge Medical Center | 9 Mins |
| Swedish Medical Center | 12 Mins |
| Swedish Southwest ER | 17 Mins |
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Our vision at Sky Ridge has always been to provide world-class care in a soothing, healing environment…close to home. We are proud of how our community and physicians have embraced our hospital to bring a depth and breadth of care that is unmatched. — Maureen Tarrant, President & CEO, Sky Ridge Medical Center HCA and HealthONE have lived up to their community promises, and they’ve raised the bar (at non-HealthONE hospitals). I happen to work at two other hospitals that are not part of HealthONE, and as soon as the joint venture came into focus, you could see a difference down the street in terms of how patients are cared for, medical care and financial ramifications… Since HealthONE has come in, the Centers of Excellence – for instance what Swedish Medical Center has now for Neurology Care, Trauma, and Emergency Room services – are all part of a larger system HCA has with innovative and best practices around the country. — Gerald Brown, MD, internal medicine physician affiliated with Swedish Medical Center, testifying at public hearing on the sale of HealthONE assets by The Colorado Health Foundation to its partner HCA.
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TRUTH: All hospitals must make a “profit” to continue serving their communities. No hospital can continue losing money and still effectively serve its growing and changing communities. HCA-HealthONE’s family of hospitals and outpatient centers simply perform better in several key areas: HealthONE hospitals have been recognized nationally, regionally and locally as top performers in many categories – including operating excellence and our ability to re-invest in our facilities, technology and people (more than $130 million/year). Many of our clinical areas – Primary Stroke Centers, Bariatric Surgery programs, Chest Pain Centers, Spine Centers and others – are designated Centers of Excellence by outside organizations. HealthONE hospitals’ quality measures exceed those of our tax-exempt counterparts in the Front Range for federally reported Core Measures. HealthONE also pays more than $70 million per year in local, state and federal taxes, which directly benefits the people, schools and businesses of our communities.
TRUTH: That’s not true. HCA-HealthONE quality care measures, such as the federally monitored Core Measures, exceed that of tax-exempt hospitals in our region. Additionally, HealthONE has the benefit of using the knowledge from HCA hospitals across the country to better identify, pilot and implement – often first in the region – quality care improvements demonstrated to save lives. Some examples include: include electronic bar-coding to prevent medication errors; advanced training, fetal heart monitoring and safety checklists for all pregnant women during deliveries; mandatory screening of all newborns for jaundice; standard and consistent infection prevention processes; development of Cardiac Alertsm and Stroke Alertsm programs with EMS agencies; inpatient Rapid Response Teams to respond to a patient room at a moment's notice if called or if monitors indicate a serious change in condition, and many others. Go to our website to learn more: www.healthonecares.com
TRUTH: First, it’s important to remember that HealthONE hospitals have served Colorado patients for more than 130 years with St. Luke’s, more than 85 years with Presbyterian Denver, more than 105 years with Swedish and more than 60 years with Rose. When the current system formed, HealthONE hospitals continued to be managed by people who live here and have families here. HCA believes local managers are best able to make decisions for their hospitals based on local needs, access to care and patient demand. The fact is, the resources HCA brings to patient care help its hospitals identify and implement quality improvements, make investments in facilities and equipment, and access business efficiencies to lower costs. If HealthONE is chosen to operate Memorial, we will name a Board of Trustees with a majority of El Paso County residents, who are a key link to the community and provide invaluable guidance to hospital leadership on a host of topics ranging from budgets to services.
TRUTH: HealthONE always maintains staffing at optimum levels. In the past six years alone we’ve added more than 1,000 full-time jobs in our hospitals. By contrast, Memorial from 2008 through 2010 actually reduced its full-time jobs in its hospitals by more than 400 people or positions. Moreover, 80% of our hospital employees provide direct patient care – and more than half of those are RNs. Like most well-run hospitals, HealthONE works within national guidelines for staffing. We rely on local hospital teams to manage their staffing levels very carefully (by facility, department, acuity and floor). It makes the most sense – local hospital teams are in the best position to know the needs of their patients on a given day and shift.
TRUTH: HCA and HealthONE have long histories of supporting Graduate Medical Education & other Physician Training Programs. In Colorado, HealthONE has invested more than $50 million in unreimbursed costs during the past 15 years in Graduate Medical Education and physician residencies at Swedish, Presbyterian/St. Luke’s, Rose, The Medical Center of Aurora and Sky Ridge, in addition to Family Residency programs in partnership with the Colorado Health Foundation. From 1996 through 2010, these programs have supported training of more than 1,300 physicians or about 90 per year. Read more >
TRUTH: That’s not true. HealthONE hospitals and outpatient centers have always been committed to serving our patients and communities – and that will never change. HealthONE provided nearly $98 million in 2010 in unpaid medical costs (not charges) to treat the indigent, uninsured and under-insured. This includes free or charity care to our poorest patients (200% of federal poverty level); uninsured discounts to patients whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid but also cannot afford insurance; and bad debt by those who do not pay. Additionally, we provided $43 million in uncovered costs of Medicaid, the government’s health program for poor that does not pay physicians, hospitals and other providers the full cost of care.
TRUTH: HealthONE has long participated in many programs with the military and is a long-standing participant in TriCare for military families. Each year our metro Denver hospitals, ERs and outpatient centers treat 10,000 TriCare members.
In addition to participating in TriCare, HealthONE is fully committed to working with our military veterans, active duty, Colorado National Guard and military academies and schools. We do this already in several areas, including a trauma surgery residency at Swedish for Army surgeons; traumatic brain injury programs at Swedish and Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital; limb preservation programs with Fort Carson at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s; amputee and prosthetic rehabilitation at Spalding; and EMS training and education with Buckley Air Force Base at The Medical Center of Aurora.
Learn more at www.HealthONECares.com
HealthONE is the first hospital system in Colorado to publicly post our average ER Wait Times – including separate Pediatric ER Wait Times for our youngest patients. This transparency is part of our commitment to better serve our communities’ healthcare needs and help patients find the quickest access to high-quality emergency medical care across the Metro area.
At HealthONE, we take a “Patients First” approach. Every patient, at every HealthONE hospital and outpatient center, receives compassionate care that meets the highest clinical standards.
Leading the Rocky Mountain Region
The most important focus for HealthONE nurses, employees and physicians is providing high-quality, safe patient care across our hospitals and outpatient centers – and continuing to lead the Rocky Mountain Region in improving quality and access to care.
As part of a large system, HealthONE offers Memorial Hospital and the people of Colorado Springs many benefits beyond a significant long-term lease payment. Foremost, as a large system, we have more places and resources to determine best practices to improve patient care, allowing us to put them in place quickly.
Benefits to People
HealthONE paid more than $71 million in state and federal taxes in 2010; donated nearly $4 million to nonprofit organizations in our communities; and provided more than $20 million in professional education, community health education, and support of other economic development efforts across the region. If HealthONE operated Memorial, we would add an estimated $10 million a year in additional tax revenue to the city and state for services and improvements.
