UCHealth
University of Colorado Health, doing business as UCHealth, is a not-for-profit health care system, headquartered in Aurora, Colorado, United States. The system includes hospitals and facilities throughout Colorado, along with affiliated hospitals in Wyoming and Nebraska. The system includes an academic medical center, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, which is closely affiliated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine. It is a joint operating company between the University of Colorado Hospital Authority and Poudre Valley Health.
History
The University of Colorado University Hospital was originally created on October 1, 1989, as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to an act of the Colorado General Assembly, but the act was declared unconstitutional by the Colorado Supreme Court in 1990. It was recreated in 1991 as the University of Colorado Hospital Authority as a special purpose government subdivision of the state. University of Colorado Health was formed on January 31, 2012, as a joint operating company between the University of Colorado Hospital Authority and Poudre Valley Health.In August 2012, voters in Colorado Springs approved a special election measure to allow UCHealth to lease and operate Memorial Hospital.
In 2015, Adeptus Health announced a partnership with UCHealth to develop emergency care facilities in Denver, Colorado Springs, and northern Colorado, including 12 existing First Choice emergency rooms along with two new ones.
In September 2016, UCHealth Broomfield Hospital opened. Located in Broomfield, Colorado, the hospital has 18 inpatient rooms and a 4-bed intensive care unit.
In February 2017, the system retitled itself as UCHealth. In addition to a refurbished website and logo, it added an app for patients.
In August 2017, a new 51-bed hospital opened in Longmont, Colorado in Boulder County called UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital.
In June 2019, the system opened a new hospital in Douglas County called UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital.
In July 2019, the system opened a new hospital in Weld County called UCHealth Greeley Hospital.
On December 1 2023, Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo and Parkview Pueblo West Hospital in Pueblo West merged with UCHealth.
In November 2024, it was announced that UCHealth had entered in a $23 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice over allegations that it had fraudulently billed emergency department patients with Tricare and Medicare for higher levels of service than were provided. The case was initiated from a UCHealth revenue auditing employee who filed a whistleblower complaint. As part of the settlement UCHealth had no admission of guilt and made a statement afterward denying wrongdoing, saying that they "agreed to the settlement to avoid potentially lengthy and costly litigation."
In 2025 UCHealth v. Colorado Department of HealthCare Policy and Financing documents how UCHealth sued HCPF to reclassify Memorial Central Hospital and Poudre Valley Hospital as private non-profit hospitals to improve the CHASE reimbursement terms. The parties settled with an agreement where HCPF will classify the hospitals as private non-profit because CMS and the state constitution allows definition to be based on operator or owner, and in this case UCHealth is the operator.
Awards and recognition
UCHealth has been ranked as a top hospital in the United States on several occasions. In 2012, it was listed as a Thomson Reuters Top 100 Hospital. Between 2017 and 2021, UCHealth hospitals have been included numerous times on a list of America's Top Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.In 2018, the hospital achieved Level 1 Trauma Center Status. Also that year, the hospital received a Comprehensive Stroke Center designation.
In 2021, UCHealth was named the first-place winner in Healthcare Innovation's Innovator Awards program for 2021 for expanded their Virtual Health Center concept to facilitate a sepsis early-warning system with the goal of improving patient outcomes.
In August 2021, Forbes named UCHealth as the No. 1 employer in Colorado.