DENVER (KDVR) — On Thursday, Banner Health announced it was transitioning the McKee Medical Center in Loveland into a specialty hospital of Banner North Colorado Medical Center, anchored by the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Over the summer, Banner Health acquired Village Medical’s Northern Colorado primary care network, along with its 200 employees. The company said the transition of McKee Medical Center is the next phase of its plan for the new Banner North Colorado Medical Center – Loveland campus.
The campus will have inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical services, as well as outpatient rehabilitation, a cardiac catheterization lab, cardiac rehabilitation and interventional radiology, according to Banner Health’s announcement. The will also be mammography and specialty care clinics.
The campus’s emergency services will end on Nov. 5, but Banner Health pointed to emergency services available through its network in Greeley, Fort Collins, Brush and Sterling. About 10 minutes down the road from McKee Medical Center is the UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, which offers emergency services.
On Nov. 5, Banner is also closing the freestanding emergency department and Banner Urgent Care Center in Greeley, pointing to similar Banner services available at the Banner North Colorado Medical Center emergency department and the Banner Health Walk-in Clinic in Windsor.
The company said that its Health Clinic’s OB/GYN practice at Summitview Medical Commons in Greeley is also going to be relocated with the current Banner OB/GYN services in Larimer County. The company’s family medicine obstetrics providers will continue to practice in Greeley and inpatient hospital obstetric services will remain at North Colorado Medical Center.
“The transition of Banner McKee is driven by community demand. Our emergency room volumes at McKee have declined each of the last four years and we’re only using 25% of our hospital beds,” said Alan Qualls, CEO of Banner’s Northern Colorado hospitals, in the company’s announcement. “The vast majority – 88% – of all surgeries performed there today are outpatient procedures. We are responding to the community and making the best use of this facility by prioritizing convenient and accessible health care services.”
Hundreds of employees to be laid off at Banner Health
Banner Health’s changes are going to impact 351 employees of the Banner McKee Medical Center, according to a WARN notice posted by the state on Thursday. The notice said that the layoffs will be permanent, but many employees will have “the opportunity to continue their employment at other Banner locations in northern Colorado.”
The expected separation date is Nov. 5.
Banner Health said that employees will have priority consideration for open positions in the organization, as well as career counseling and other support services. The company said it employs over 3,000 people in northern Colorado and nearly 60,000 people across its whole system.
Banner Health said it plans to include new and expanded services and sites within the service, with details to be announced in the coming months.
“The communities of Northern Colorado are among the fastest growing in the country and Banner is planning to make significant capital investments in the next three years to best meet the health care needs of this region,” said Todd Werner, Banner’s president of Care Delivery, in Thursday’s announcement. “Northern Colorado is instrumental to Banner’s 10-year strategic growth plan which includes reimagining where and how we offer services to modernize care delivery using the latest technology to improve access and affordability.”
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
