August 4, 2017 – Last week, Family Health West and St. Mary’s Hospital broke ground on a joint transitional care facility in Fruita, Colo. Here’s more via The Business Times:

“Two Grand Valley hospitals have joined in a collaborative effort to treat so-called transitional patients who no longer require intensive care, but still need rehabilitation and other services.

Construction is under way on a $4.5 million expansion at Colorado Canyons Hospital and Medical Center in Fruita that will add nine rooms and other facilities to accommodate transitional patients.

St. Mary’s Medical Center in Grand Junction has joined in the effort in aligning its patient care with the program.

Mark Francis, president and chief executive officer of Family Health West, which operates Colorado Canyons Hospital, said the program and addition fit well with other resources the organization offers, including various forms of rehabilitation as well as assisted-and skilled-care living facilities.

Dr. Brian Davidson, president of St. Mary’s, said the transition program will offer ‘the right care in the right place at the right time.’ In the process, that care will cost half as much and perhaps less, he said.

The Western Healthcare Alliance — a Grand Junction-based collaborative of 29 hospitals in Colorado and Utah, including Colorado Canyons and St. Mary’s — suggested the program.

‘We are so pleased to have spotted this solution for transitional patient care. We are even more thankful that St. Mary’s and Colorado Canyons embraced the model and are collaborating to develop a local program for our own communities,’ said Angelina Salazar, a spokeswoman for the Western Healthcare Alliance. ‘We believe it is the start of something that can work for many hospitals in our state.’

Read the full article online here.

Learn more about the healthcare community in Colorado’s Grand Valley here.