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March 4-March 17, 2015 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — Page 9B
M ost people think
of hospitals as
towering buildings
or sprawling campuses that
are important to have around
when you need them, but
generally not a preferred
place to visit. They are large,
complex and often feel
“institutional.”
This perception has fueled
a proliferation of new health
care business models over the
years – urgent care clinics,
freestanding emergency
rooms, outpatient surgery
centers and others – that
attempt to provide advanced
or specialized care without the
overhead and complexity of an
acute care hospital.
But a different kind of
hospital is beginning to
emerge. One that is small,
modern and easy to access. The
idea behind a neighborhood-
based, microhospital is to offer
consumers the convenience
of having advanced care close
to home without the same
sense of complexity as its
larger, traditional competitors
– a place of healing close to
where people live, work and
play. Creating convenient
community hospitals based
in local neighborhoods is a
logical next step to adapt to
the changing needs of the
health care consumer.
“Patients today expect the
same kind of value from
health care as they receive in
other areas of their lives,” said
Tajquah Hudson, senior vice
president and chief strategy
officer at SCL Health. “They
do not need to choose quality
or comprehensive care over
convenience. With the right
care model, they can have
both.”
It wasn’t that long ago
when consumers had just two
choices when it came to their
health care needs: a hospital
or a doctor’s office. In most
cases, the severity of a person’s
illness or the time of day made
that choice an obvious one.
Convenience was expected in
retail, not in health care.
That has changed. Big-
brand innovators like
Amazon, Apple and Google
have changed consumer
expectations across numerous
industries, and health care is
no exception. New technology,
nontraditional competitors,
and economic and political
trends in health care have
fueled a focus on improving
the patient experience. You
can find urgent care clinics
and freestanding ERs in
strip malls and shopping
centers alongside shops and
restaurants. Outpatient surgery
centers are common. Major
retail chains such as Walmart
and Walgreens are opening
health clinics in their stores.
With retail-based options
proliferating, a routine sports
physical these days can be less
like an “appointment” and
more like an errand.
However, new community
hospitals are different
from urgent care clinics or
freestanding ERs in that they
are state-licensed hospitals
with inpatient beds and other
services not found at those
facilities. This represents a new
model of care for the Denver
market. Inspired by the same
level of quality, safety and
comprehensive care found at
traditional acute care hospitals,
community hospitals offer
convenience for the consumer
not found in other settings.
With an emergency
department; surgery; inpatient
beds; labor, delivery and
recovery rooms; and laboratory
and imaging services, the
difference will be in the size
of the facility. The facilities
promise shorter wait times and
convenient parking, as well as a
range of other complementary
health care services that fit the
needs of those communities,
from primary care to certain
specialties.
The size and complexity
of more traditional hospitals
comes in large part from the
highly specialized services
needed for the sickest patients
and most complex needs,
such as an intensive care unit
or certain equipment. At the
other end of the spectrum,
freestanding ERs or outpatient
clinics provide quicker service
and easier access, but with a
limited scope of treatment.
Microhospitals aim to bridge
that gap for the significant
number of patients who may
have illnesses or injuries that
exceed the capabilities of
freestanding or outpatient
facilities but who may not
require the interventions
reserved for the most critical of
patients.
Brian Newsome
Director of content services, mar-
keting and communications, SCL
Health, Denver
Children’s Hospital Colorado South
Photo Credit: Brad Feinknopf
EXCEPTIONAL CARE
Certainty of
Outcome
Uncompromised Patient Safety
Enhanced Solutions for Designing
Healthy Communities
ARCHITECTURE INTERIOR DESIGN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE URBAN PLANNING
Minneapolis Los Angeles Las Vegas Biloxi Denver San Diego Phoenix Seoul Beijing
Douglas + Nancy Barnhart Cancer Center and Medical Office Building
SCL Health will introduce four community-based hospitals to the Denver
metro area in the next year. The $2.4 billion nonprofit health system
is building hospitals in Westminster (pictured), Northglenn, southwest
Denver and Aurora, with plans to open later this year and in 2016.