News release: Colorado - Denver/Boulder

November 18, 2002

For more information, call:
Steve Krizman
Kaiser Permanente
Phone: (303) 344-7932
E-mail: Steve.A.Krizman@kp.org

Kaiser Permanente to join Exempla's Lafayette campus

Denver, CO – The new Exempla Healthcare hospital being built in Lafayette will serve 145,000 Kaiser Permanente members among others in the north metro area, the health care organizations announced today.

The hospital campus is needed to serve both organizations' growing patient base. Ever since Kaiser Permanente opened in Denver in 1969, its patients have been cared for at Saint Joseph Hospital, operated in central Denver by Exempla Healthcare.

"Together we have built a reputation for quality that leads the nation. This Lafayette project enables us to build on those achievements and to be more convenient to our north metro patients," said Jack Cochran, MD, Kaiser Permanente's executive medical director.

"We're pleased that Kaiser Permanente is joining us in this effort," said Jeff Selberg, president and CEO of Exempla Healthcare. "We have more than 30 years experience working together at Saint Joseph Hospital, and we have similar philosophies on quality care, community-based medicine and state-of-the-art care delivery. We will be working closely with Kaiser, other providers and physicians in private practice to serve residents in the north metro area." The medical campus is at 200 Exempla Circle, near the intersection of Highways 287 and 42 and just north of the new extension of E-470.

Kaiser Permanente will build a $75 million, four-story medical office adjacent to the new Exempla hospital. By January 1, 2005, about 70 physicians and 150 staff at the medical office will provide primary care and specialty care to Kaiser Permanente patients.

Currently, nearly all Kaiser Permanente members see specialists such as cardiologists, neurologists, urologists, and rheumatologists at the Franklin Medical Office in central Denver. When they need hospital treatment, they go to Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital, adjacent to the Franklin Medical Office, or to The Children's Hospital or Boulder Community Hospital. When Kaiser Permanente's contract with Boulder Community expires January 1, 2005, north area patients will be referred to the new Exempla hospital in Lafayette.

"This expansion will enhance service to our patients and will help us maintain quality and efficiency—which translates to affordability," said Chris Binkley, president of Kaiser Permanente's Colorado region. "Our membership has grown to the point that we need a second specialty medical office to maintain the level of service our patients expect. And this new facility is designed to avoid duplication of expensive services and to make the most of medical technology."

Construction began on Exempla's new hospital in July and is scheduled for completion during the fourth quarter of 2004. The hospital will have 143 inpatient beds and will offer comprehensive in- and outpatient health care services. Among the services included will be urgent care, a full-service emergency department, a full-range of cardiovascular services, labor and delivery, adult and newborn intensive care, interventional and diagnostic radiology, orthopedics and pediatrics. The Exempla medical campus also will house an additional medical office building for primary care and specialty physicians interested in moving or expanding their practices near the new hospital.

According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the north metro area is anticipated to be one of the fastest-growing areas in the state over the next few decades. "Construction of the medical campus will meet a need in this fast-growing community. Our research indicated that many residents of this area drive 20 to 45 minutes to receive hospital care," said David Hamm, Exempla's vice president of system services, who is overseeing the new hospital construction. In fact, nearly half drive south of Interstate 70 for in-patient services. The services provided on the new medical campus will mean convenient, close-to-home access to basic and specialized health care services for local residents."

Both Kaiser and Exempla are nonprofit organizations. Any revenue that exceeds day-to-day expenses is used to pay for improving programs, services and facilities—such as the construction project in Lafayette. Both have received national recognition for their quality health care.

This fall, Kaiser Permanente was named one of the top 15 health plans in the nation in quality. No other health plan west of the Mississippi received this recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an independent agency dedicated to monitoring health care quality. Exempla's two hospitals, Lutheran Medical Center and Saint Joseph Hospital, have been recognized four times as being among the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation by Solucient, a health care information and research company.

Kaiser Permanente cares for 407,000 members in the six-county Denver metro area and in Colorado Springs. In the Denver metro area, care is provided by a coordinated team of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, mental health counselors and physical therapists. In Colorado Springs, Kaiser Permanente cares for its members through an affiliated network of community-based physicians and other health care providers.

Exempla Healthcare is a community-based, not-for-profit health care delivery system that manages two of the Denver-area's most respected hospitals, Lutheran Medical Center and Saint Joseph Hospital, and the Exempla Physician Network.