Parker Adventist Hospital has launched a $76 million expansion proj ect, prompted by an increase in patients.
The two-phase project will raise the number of inpatient beds, operating rooms and employees, and is slated for completion by mid-2011.
The hospital’s Florida-based parent, Adventist Health Systems, financed the project.
“We’re really fortunate to be in a position to be able to expand,” hospital chief executive Terry Forde said. “People want to receive care right here in Parker, and if we don’t offer a service, they ask why not and how soon can we offer it.”
Patient volume and population growth are the driving forces behind the expansion, he said.
In 2008, the hospital saw 4,800 patients per month, up from 2,427 patients per month in 2004, he said.
Forde projects a 10 percent increase in patients by 2010, to about 5,300 patients per month.
The population in Parker has increased by about 17 percent over the past four years.
Forde expects the expansion to create more than 100 jobs for nurses, physicians, nurse aides and support-services employees in the radiology lab.
The first phase of construction began in January and will include five operating rooms and 10 birthplace rooms.
The second phase, still in the planning stages, will include a three-story inpatient wing with 30 patient rooms, an intensive-care unit and additional parking.
Thirty additional beds will be made available on an as-needed basis, eventually increasing the current 100-bed facility to 160 beds.
Right now, one medical office building is attached to the hospital. A second medical office building, financed by Florida-based Dasco Cos. for $18.7 million, broke ground last November and is slated to open in August.
JoAnn “JJ” Dedmon, chairwoman of the board for the Parker Chamber of Commerce, said the project will have a positive economic impact that goes beyond jobs.
“It has to do with people coming to our town and the dollars they bring when they visit a patient or have a medical procedure,” she said. “We’re proud of our community, and any time someone new comes there, it has an overall impact.”
The hospital ranked between the 90th and 99th percentile in a 2009 patient-satisfaction survey involving more than 475 hospitals nationwide.
Sara Castellanos: 303-954-1381 or scastellanos@denverpost.com
