Saturday, Aug. 3, was a historic move day for Intermountain Health Lutheran Medical Center as it transferred patients to its new hospital, officially celebrating its first day of operation.
Intermountain Health Lutheran Medical Center, which has operated in Wheat Ridge for over a century, officially closed the doors of its previous location at 6 am. For the next eight hours and 15 minutes, patients were safely discharged home or transported by ambulance to the new Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital, located 3.5 miles away, that also opened at 6 am.
Hospital planning teams gathered on Saturday at 3 am in conference rooms at both hospitals to count the number of inpatients, review their health status and monitor their transfer to the new hospital or discharge home. Then they coordinated patient departures. Throughout the day, about 20 ambulances with EMS crews circulated back and forth between the hospitals.
Dr. Kathy Crabtree, chief medical officer for Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital, said the day was hectic but overall very successful in safely moving patients. “Our caregivers were amazing and worked so hard to coordinate a safe transfer of patients from the old campus to the new hospital,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without this collaborative effort. We’re really proud and grateful to our entire team.”
Lutheran Hospital hospitalist and site medical director Dr. Ritika Patel was one of the leaders working in the command center, coordinating the flow of traffic and informing physicians when their patients would be transported. Part of that work involved ensuring each patient’s care team transferred over to the new hospital with that patient. “If they cared for them in the existing hospital, they will care for them in the new hospital,” she said.
Crabtree began her day at the command center in the new hospital, and it was there when caregivers announced the final patient transport was complete. “Lots of mixed emotions today. Our old hospital has had so many memories for me. I’ve spent much of my career there and it has been such an important part of our community’s history, that I’m sad to see it go. However, I’m really excited for our new hospital, which has been designed to enable us to provide the best care possible, and the promise it holds for our community as a place of healing,” she said.