Colorado Springs is absorbing a simultaneous surge of hospital investment from several health systems at once. UCHealth's southern Colorado division recently broke ground on a $463 million project at Memorial Hospital North that will come close to doubling the facility's inpatient, surgical and specialty care capacity. Children's Hospital Colorado separately received a $40 million gift from the Golisano Children's Alliance, a family foundation supporting pediatric healthcare nationwide, designated for new inpatient beds, greater surgical capacity, a larger emergency department and improvements to outpatient facilities such as its behavioral health center. A third major health system has now unveiled its own long-range blueprint.
CommonSpirit Health, the owner of three hospital campuses in Colorado Springs along with an extensive network of affiliated medical centers and services, has completed a 10-year regional strategy. Over the first five years of that plan, the system will direct $125 million toward local upgrades, capital projects and infrastructure improvements, with further rounds of investment to follow. Chicago-headquartered CommonSpirit, a Catholic health organization, took over direct management of what had been the Centura Health system in 2023 and has designated Colorado Springs as one of its primary markets for growth. The organization, ranked second among the country's nonprofit hospital systems by staffed bed count, is working through operating losses via a $6 billion system-wide recovery program called Project Impact, which aims to streamline operations, cut costs and drive performance improvements.
St. Francis Hospital, situated near Woodmen Road and Powers Boulevard, will serve as the primary growth hub; the market president said population expansion has shifted that campus toward the geographic center of the city, giving it the potential to reach a considerably larger share of residents. Planned work at that site includes adding 100 beds to the existing 317 for a new total of 417 inpatient beds, and relocating tertiary-level services — advanced cardiac surgery, neurosurgery and vascular procedures — from Penrose to St. Francis within 12 to 18 months, a shift that could elevate its trauma care certification. The newer St. Francis campus off Interstate 25 at Interquest Parkway is also slated for growth, including a medical office building, expanded physician clinics, skilled nursing combined with long-term care, and possibly specialty services such as obstetrics.
Penrose Hospital on North Nevada Avenue has spent roughly six months preparing for a restructured future in which its inpatient bed count drops from 300 to 100, focused on general surgery and medical care, while its emergency department and oncology clinic stay on site. A cardiology clinic staffed by up to 10 employed physicians is scheduled to open at Penrose, and a new employee-run urology clinic with at least two doctors is also set to launch there. Penrose's chief executive said roughly 92% of the services the hospital currently provides will remain available at that location. No layoffs are planned, with staffing projected to grow over the next three to five years as internal operations expand.
A work group that includes community members has been reviewing applications from nonprofits seeking space in the Penrose West Tower, with childcare services, workforce development, additional post-acute care and support for aging in place emerging as the leading proposals. At least one floor is expected to be available for nonprofit use by next June.
The market president said the unified three-campus approach is intended to allow the system to serve 24% more Colorado Springs residents than it reaches today. CommonSpirit reported that patient transfers from the Pikes Peak region rose approximately 7% year over year, while transfers from the broader southern Colorado area climbed nearly 11.5%, and both total admissions and emergency department visits exceeded the figures from the prior fiscal year ending June 30.
The selection of nonprofit tenants for the Penrose West Tower remains to be finalized, and CommonSpirit has not yet announced the precise timeline for opening the reconfigured space to community organizations.