At the turn of the 20th century, healthcare was inadequate for much of America. The practice of medicine was rudimentary and sometimes dangerous. Medical schools had few entrance requirements and offered poor training. But some imagined a brighter future for the country’s healthcare. As the American Medical Association prepared to raise the bar on medical education, Seventh-day Adventists, under the influence of Ellen White and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, were quietly fueling their own reform—dreaming of building sanitariums that helped shift the focus from treating illness to promoting wellness. Realizing the link between health and spirituality, they saw a future in which people could thrive by incorporating healthier medical and lifestyle practices. After opening their first sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, they began a second one in Boulder, Colorado. From this beginning, four hospitals—and now a fifth in the making—emerged as today’s family of Adventist hospitals in Colorado. “The focus on treating the whole person remains central to our healthcare work here—though our methods continue to advance,” says Stephen King, senior vice president of mission and ministry for Colorado’s Adventist hospitals. “Adventists can be proud to see how their vision has grown and prospered in the region, and how our hospitals are bringing the best of heart and medical science to caring for patients.”Today, these hospitals inspire trust and are known for leading the way in several areas of medicine.Avista Adventist Hospital

  • Named one of the nation’s top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in America
  • Ranked among the nation’s best hospitals for patient, physician and employee satisfaction
  • Home of the area’s largest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the most innovative birthing center

Castle Rock Adventist Health Campus

  • Construction underway on a 212,000 square-foot, four-floor, 50-bed hospital that will include a full complement of services, scheduled to open in the summer of 2013
  • Phase 1 now in operation, offering advanced emergency care with board-certified emergency physicians and a helipad for transporting patients
  • Complete diagnostic center now open to the public with a full range of technology, including one of the region’s only wide-bore MRI machines that enhances patient comfort

Littleton Adventist Hospital

  • Rated by U.S.News & World Report as the best regional hospital for gynecology, gastroenterology and ear, nose and throat for 2012
  • Winner of the HealthStream Excellence awards based on patient feedback for its mammography and Children’s After Hours Care Center
  • Earned accreditation of its Breast Center from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers for the superior technology of digital mammograms, which provide clearer images to detect cancer early

Parker Adventist Hospital

  • Designated as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in America
  • Cited as the “The Best of the Best” by the Parker Chronicle and the Centennial Citizen newspapers in 2011
  • Achieved designation as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Academy for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

Porter Adventist Hospital

  • Nursing Magnet®-designated hospital that was ranked #1 for overall cardiac care in Colorado by a national hospital reporting company
  • Named as specialty and distinction center for its surgery programs for spine surgery and knee and hip replacement
  • Earned accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers

This article was submitted by Stephen King, senior vice president for mission and ministry for the Rocky Mountain Adventist Health System/Centura Health, where he serves the five Adventist hospitals in Colorado. It was written by CMBell Company.

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