Boulder Community Health Announces New Strategic Vision

Boulder Community Health (BCH) has announced a new vision for providing comprehensive behavioral health and rehabilitation services for Boulder County residents.

BCH plans to relocate its behavioral health and rehabilitation services from two aging facilities – Boulder Community Hospital and the Mapleton Center for Rehabilitation – to a dispersed set of newer facilities that are more centrally located for most Boulder County citizens.

As a key part of this new direction, BCH will sell its campus at Broadway and Balsam.

“This is a new vision for meeting a long-standing commitment,” said BCH President/CEO David Gehant. “Behavioral health and rehabilitation are vital parts of our community’s health care safety net and we are committed to maintaining those services. We intend to improve care by providing a comprehensive range of services in up-to-date facilities that are more conveniently located for citizens across Boulder County.”

Broadway Campus
This development supersedes previously announced plans to relocate clinical and business operations from the Mapleton Center to the Broadway campus. Instead, clinical and business operations currently at the Broadway and Mapleton campuses will be moved to new locations within Boulder and Boulder Community Health will sell the eight-acre Broadway campus.

“Local citizens have received medical care and emotional support at the Broadway campus since 1926. It’s part of the fabric of Boulder, a true icon of our community,” Gehant said. “Deciding to leave Broadway was a bittersweet decision, but health care is evolving in new directions and this is a vital step in ensuring that Boulder retains a strong, independent health system focused on meeting local needs.”

BCH will require an extended lease-back of the Broadway campus as part of any sales agreement. This will provide sufficient time to complete the relocation of all operations at the Broadway campus.

Clinical services such as inpatient behavioral health and rehabilitation will continue to operate at the Broadway campus during this extended transition. BCH expects to completely vacate the Broadway campus by the end of 2017.

BCH’s new strategic vision maintains all current clinical services. The decision to sell the Broadway campus does not change BCH’s plans to completely vacate the Mapleton Center by the end of 2015.

The Broadway campus includes:
• Boulder Community Hospital
• Medical Pavilion office building
• 410-space parking garage
• Brenton Building

Rehabilitation Services
Boulder Community Health plans a two-step approach to re-organizing rehabilitation services. In phase one, BCH will move its outpatient therapies, which include pediatric and hand rehabilitation, from the Mapleton Center to a recently purchased building at 4141 Arapahoe Avenue. Outpatient rehabilitation services are expected to be in their new location by December of 2015.

In phase two, BCH will identify a new location within the City of Boulder for the inpatient rehabilitation services presently located at the Broadway campus. BCH planners are currently evaluating options for locating this service.

“We are fully committed to providing Boulder County citizens with top quality inpatient rehabilitation services now and in the future,” Gehant said. “We’re looking at options in order to determine the optimal location for that service.”

Behavioral Health Services
BCH has developed a similar two-step approach to re-organizing behavioral health services. In phase one, BCH will move its outpatient counseling services from the Mapleton Center to temporary offices at the Broadway campus. This move is expected to be completed by December of 2015.

In phase two, BCH will consolidate all behavioral health services at a new location within the City of Boulder. This will include the inpatient behavioral health and electroconvulsive therapy services presently provided at the Broadway campus, along with outpatient counseling. BCH planners are currently evaluating options.

“Our community has never had a greater need for high quality, integrated behavioral health services,” Gehant said. “Boulder Community Hospital is the only acute care hospital in Boulder County providing inpatient care for those patients. We will maintain that vitally important service for Boulder County citizens.”

Other Operations
The sale of the Broadway campus will mean the relocation of other clinical and business operations. Eight physician clinics are currently located at the Broadway campus. Options for the BCH-owned clinics are being evaluated. BCH will support the independent clinics in implementing the relocation plans that they develop.

Back-office business operations such as scheduling and billing will move to an east Boulder location. BCH expects to complete the purchase of a building for that purpose in June.

BCH expects to have all its moves completed by the end of 2017.

Boulder Community Health’s 2,300 employees provide a comprehensive range of health care services at 16 locations located across Boulder and Broomfield Counties.