AURORA, Co. – The highly anticipated Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center (VAMC) has finally opened its doors to patients, replacing its former 60-year-old hospital building with a new and luminous 1.2 million-square-foot facility.

The VAMC will provide care for more than 390,000 Veterans and will offer services including a 30-bed spinal cord injury clinic, aquatic therapy, mammography, and PET scans for cancer and prosthetics.

There will also be expanded telehealth services, polytrauma and a traumatic brain injury unit located on the 31-acre site. Additionally, the hospital includes 900,000-square-feet of parking space for staff and patients.

In the beginning, renovations to the Clinic [Building South], formerly University Physician, Inc., was awarded a $571 million to Kiewit Turner (KT) of Englewood and initiated construction in April 2011.

The Campus Construction project, also awarded to KT, began in November 2011 while  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued substantial completion to KT in January 2018. Turner Construction of New York also served as the general contractor.

The Center’s design concentrates on sustainability, which incorporates photovoltaic panels, solar evacuated tubing and optimal daylighting throughout the curtainwall system, all of which help produce energy-cost savings.

The Concourse building connects all buildings of the hospital, providing weather-protected access to the various services as well as a space for community.

An infusion clinic is located on the third floor, facing west, providing ideal views of the Rocky Mountains. The openness and lighting along with the artwork are there to help improve patient care and are abundant throughout the facility. There are also private rooms with an area for family members to wait and stay.

Most notably, the Spinal Cord Injury Unit (SCI) stands as one of the only 25 other facilities in this country to provide services that qualify for specific rehabilitation needs of Veterans with spinal cord injuries. The SCI also features an outdoor rehabilitation garden, allowing patients with spinal cord injuries to adapt to their chairs in a protected environment.

“Open space within the Concourse Building and throughout the campus promotes opportunities for Veterans and their families to engage with others within the Veteran community,” said Jennifer Williams, project executive, construction and facilities management of the Denver Replacement Project.

“The SCI and Mental Health have several rooms which are two person rooms to help with the peer to peer support for either the new SCI patient or a mental health patient.  The entire campus has very special design elements from showcasing each branch of service to naming the reception areas after a Colorado mountain.”

Williams continued, stating that this is to assist with wayfinding and to also provide a sense of community.  Additionally, the medical center has partnered with the VFW to bring in Veteran Artwork which is for sale, helping support Veterans as a result.

Unlike the previous facility, the new building allows the hospital to adopt new technologies with the campus having a fully integrated physical access control system, which includes both security cameras and various card readers.

The unique feature of this system is that it was integrated with the existing Eastern Colorado Health Care System which spans the entire eastern side of Colorado and into Kansas.

The campus includes many other innovative technology components to assist with patient care and patient experience, including the Sip and Puff technology that allows paralyzed Veterans to control equipment in their room with their mouths.

“The biggest challenge on this project has been shifting the focus from the problems this project faced in the past to celebrating the successes of this project today, said Williams. “This facility, which incorporates new services and technologies, will enable VA to serve nearly 400,000 Colorado Veterans and their families. Some of the most proud moments on this project have been helping a Veteran find their way to an appointment or the Canteen while listening to their comments on what a wonderful facility this really is.”

The Rocky Mountain Regional VAMC officially opened for outpatient services on July 27 and present Denver VA patients moved into the facility on August 4.

Although the facility is already open, the VA medical center is continuing its work to address the growing Veteran population in the region by guaranteeing high-quality services while a PTSD clinic is planned to be built on the campus as soon as possible.

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The architect for this 37,000-square-foot, two-story facility was PhiloWilke Partnership located in Houston. The general contractor on the project was engineering and construction firm Kiewit Building Group of Englewood, Colo. The emergency center was developed by Duke Realty, a commercial real-estate developer in Indianapolis. As a private company, SCL Health declined to release the budget for the project publicly.

The new satellite-facility includes emergency and non-emergency medical care, inpatient care, a wide range of surgical procedures, extensive on-site laboratory and radiology services, and other comprehensive multispecialty services such as on-site diagnostics, CT Scan, x-ray and ultrasound services. The overarching goal of the four-part project is to offer the same type of healthcare services that are typically found on a larger hospital campus but in local suburban locations closer to where people live, according to a statement.

“We are incredibly grateful for the amount of support we’ve received as we introduce these community hospitals into the Colorado market,” said Sean Stricker, regional chief executive officer at Emerus Holdings Inc. “In our experience, patients feel comfort in receiving medical care closer to home, where they can be near their families. This hospital will deliver high-quality, compassionate care to Northglenn residents, right in their neighborhoods.”

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The medical center follows Kaiser Permanente’s “template” for its facilities, designed to allow for enhanced flexibility for changing practices and technologies like green features. The facility’s design also meets the new, more rigorous seismic safety standards.

“This state-of-the-art facility is one of the largest, greenest and most technologically advanced ever built in the area, and we are thrilled to be opening our doors,” said Greg Christian, executive director of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals/Health Plan, Fontana and Ontario. “This investment symbolizes our commitment to the health of all people who live and work in the Inland Empire.”

The second Kaiser Permanente medical center in San Bernardino County, which serves about 400,000 members, will allow the hospital system to better serve members and communities on the west end, said Dr. David Quam, area medical director and chief of staff.

All patient rooms are private, with a noise-reducing acoustic design, warm colors and artwork specially commissioned for the facility.

Additional amenities create a family-friendly environment, with beds for overnight stays and wireless Internet access, as well as skylights and large windows to maximize natural light to ease stress.

“This hospital is all about the clinical and personal needs of our patients,” said Georgina Garcia, chief operating officer at the hospital. “Our technology is state of the art, and our healing environment focuses on personalized care. Patient meals will be utilizing the sous vide method for cooking food, used in the finest hotels, and patients can order their meals room service-style – select their menu choices and indicate the time they’d prefer meals to be delivered.”

Officials from Kaiser Permanente reported that the Medical Center is the first to have a fully integrated information technology infrastructure across the entire campus.

Kaiser Permanente’s electronic medical record system is accessible by computer terminals located next to each bed and at nursing stations, allowing providers to retrieve essential medical information at the touch of a finger, while sophisticated imaging systems improve diagnostic and treatment capabilities, according to a statement from Kaiser Permanente.

A wall-to-wall wireless network provides wireless network coverage in all areas of the campus to support computing devices, wireless telephones, and member access.

In addition to billions invested in upgrades across its facilities, the Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center replacement hospital will open in 2013.

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