Littleton Adventist moves to boost ICU

Rachel Brand, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 21, 2006 at midnight

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Littleton Adventist hospital will complete the skeleton of its $36 million expansion on Wednesday, in preparation for tripling the hospital's intensive care capacity.

The 175-bed hospital will add 24 intensive care beds, bringing the total to 37, as well as 32 medical/surgical beds, bringing that total to 116. The two new floors are expected to be finished next spring.

The addition comes two years after Littleton Adventist won a Level II trauma designation, allowing it to compete with nearby Swedish Medical Center for emergency service referrals.

The center has seen an increase in treating victims of auto crashes, as well as injuries from seniors who fall and victims of horseback riding accidents. In 2005, the hospital's medical/surgical unit was 82 percent full.

"Our numbers are going up phenomenally," said Kim Muramoto, Littleton's trauma coordinator.

Swedish has a Level I trauma center with 42 intensive care beds. Both centers have a full range of specialists and equipment available 24 hours a day, but a Level I center offers trauma education, injury prevention and ongoing academic research and training.

Littleton Adventist was built in 1989, designed as a maternity hospital to serve young families who flocked to Highlands Ranch.

Seventeen years later the babies are grown, and their aging parents are now seeking care.

"The parents who had their children here, in some cases, are staying here," said Littleton's Chief Operating Officer Dennis Hanson. "Our service area hasn't grown that much . . . (but) we're seeing more complex care, that's where our market growth is coming from."

In 2005, the hospital had 43,818 trauma, emergency department and pediatric after-hours visits. It expects the number to rise 5 percent to 46,000 this year.

brandr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5269

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