Colorado Springs – The city’s newest hospital caters to the sick but has the amenities of a high-end hotel: fireplaces in lobbies, wireless Internet, flat-screen televisions and room service.
Memorial Hospital North, a 98-bed, $146 million facility, is the first of three new hospitals in the Pikes Peak region. St. Francis Medical Center, a 158-bed hospital, and Pikes Peak Regional Hospital, a 15-bed facility in Teller County, are scheduled to open in August.
“We’ve got a lot of the latest technology, but what we’re really dwelling on here is more of the human touch. We want to make sure that the patient is at the center of every decision we make and focus on the art of caring,” said Lynda York, director of patient-care services.
The city-owned hospital opened Wednesday after construction began in 2004. No tax dollars were used to construct the five-story facility, which is expected to alleviate crowding at Memorial’s 477-bed facility on Boulder Street.
Operating rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art telecommunications – cameras, microphones and computers linked together so doctors can consult one another when they are in different locations.
Patient beds are made with inflatable ballasts to help stop skin tears and ulcers. Intravenous pumps will read a bar code to make sure the right drugs are given to the right patient at the right time.
The new hospital offers general surgery, labor and delivery, gastrointestinal, radiology and acute care. Trauma patients can be stabilized at the north hospital but would then be transferred to the central hospital downtown. The new hospital does not have an intensive-care unit or a cardiac-care unit.
The hospital’s main lobby opens to grand views of Pikes Peak. Ceilings are wavy, designed to create a calming, oceanlike effect. Several gardens, including a Zen garden, fill out the landscaping. The work of local artists adorns the walls.
Patients can also order from “At Your Request,” a room-service menu that features everything from beef medallions crusted in blue cheese to grilled cheese.
The hospital opened at 7 a.m. Wednesday and at 9:33 a.m. delivered a baby girl – Jase Krantz, 7 pounds, 7 ounces – born to Jon and Nicole Krantz.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
