Colorado’s academic health system moves closer to adding another hospital

Estes Park Health has taken another step toward joining UCHealth in Colorado.

The small hospital just outside Rocky Mountain National Park has signed agreements to join UCHealth, Colorado’s academic health system. Estes Park Health operates a critical access hospital with 23 beds.

UCHealth and Estes Park Health say they expected the deal to be completed later this year. The Colorado attorney general’s office still must sign off on the deal. UCHealth first announced plans to acquire Estes Park Health last October.

Estes Park Health is operated by the Park Hospital District. Residents in the district overwhelmingly supported the idea of Estes Park joining a larger health system, with 80% of voters approving the move in a 2023 referendum.

David Batey, chairman of the Park Hospital District’s board of directors, cited the strong public backing in moving forward to join UCHealth.

“We took your overwhelmingly positive support from the vote in 2023 to pursue a partnership with another nonprofit hospital, and we found a great fit with UCHealth,” Batey said in a statement Monday.

When the deal is finalized, the hospital will be rebranded as UCHealth Estes Valley Medical Center. The Park Hospital District said it requested the new name for the facility. A new board of directors will oversee the hospital, and most of the board’s members will be area residents, the district said.

Park Hospital District held public meetings on the move to join UCHealth. The full boards of directors of both organizations must formally sign off on the agreement.

More than half of Estes Park Health’s patients rely on Medicare or Medicaid, or they are have no insurance. UCHealth, Colorado’s largest Medicaid provider, has vowed to ensure patients in Estes Park have access to care.

Kevin Unger, president and CEO of UCHealth’s northern Colorado region, said last fall that the system is looking to provide “financial stability for the hospital and additional resources for the Estes Valley.”

UCHealth plans to offer employment to all Estes Park Health workers, and will recognize their years of services, the district has said.

UCHealth has moved to acquire other essential providers. In 2023, UCHealth acquired the Parkview Health System and its two hospitals in Pueblo.

The largest health system in Colorado, UCHealth operates 14 acute care hospitals and operates more than 200 clinics serving Colorado, southern Wyoming and western Nebraska.

UCHealth commands 29% of Colorado’s healthcare market, ahead of HealthOne, part of HCA Healthcare (19%), followed by CommonSpirit Health (14%), and Intermountain Health (about 14%), according to data from Fitch Ratings.

Founded in 1975 as Elizabeth Knutsson Memorial Hospital, Estes Park Health is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Many rural hospitals have been looking to join larger systems to stay afloat. More than 700 rural hospitals, representing nearly one-third of America’s rural hospitals, are facing the possibility of shutting down, according to a recent report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform.

Some rural hospitals are reducing services to keep the doors open. Since 2020, 100 rural hospitals across America have stopped delivering babies, according to a new report by the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform.