Parkview Health System is opening an $85 million, 58,000-square-foot orthopedic center in Pueblo West, Colo., that can perform between 4,000 and 5,000 orthopedic surgeries every year, according to an Aug. 17 report from The Pueblo Chieftain.
The center is ready to open and has its first three surgeries scheduled for Sept. 6.
The Pueblo West center is located near the Parkview emergency services building at Purcell and Industrial.
"This facility is one of the big draws that brought me to this area — it is the ultimate in orthopedic centers," Shane Rothermel, MD, an orthopedic surgeon new to Pueblo, told the Chieftain. "It is a big deal not just for Pueblo, but there are few orthopedic hospitals nationwide."
Dr. Rothermel is the only surgeon in the Pueblo area who uses an anterior approach to access the hip for replacement surgeries.
The new center will feature six operating rooms, 29 patient rooms, 25 surgery prep bays, a sterile processing area, a full lab, a pharmacy and a rehab center.
"One of the things this new facility will provide is the opportunity to keep growing our orthopedic services," Maggie Welte, Parkview Pueblo West administrator, told the Chieftain. "We have seen the need to increase our services over the past few years, but now we can cater to all of the people that require our orthopedic services throughout Southern Colorado.
When surgeries start in September, the orthopedic hospital will employ just under 100 staffers. Since the hospital is not using its whole 35-acre lot, Parkview's president and CEO, Leslie Barnes, said it is a possibility it will "add other things down the road."