Facts & Figures

Founded on the banks of Cherry Creek in 1860, Denver Health reflects the historical mission of our nation’s public safety net hospitals. Additionally, Denver Health integrates acute hospital and emergency care with public and community health to deliver preventive, primary and acute care services.  This integration promotes continuity of care for each patient. Integration also assures health care that is delivered in the most efficient, cost-effective setting. Denver Health cares for one-third of Denver’s population annually, and 37 percent of Denver’s children.

Denver Health cares for:

• The special health needs of the entire population with services ranging from trauma care to the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, and
• The needs of special populations such as the poor, uninsured, mentally ill, pregnant teens, persons addicted to alcohol and other substances, victims of violence, the homeless and those with AIDS.

Denver Health Medical Center
Denver Health Medical Center (DHMC) is Denver Health’s acute care hospital. With 525-licensed beds, DHMC is one of the
state’s busiest hospitals with more than 26,000 admissions annually.

Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center
Denver Health Medical Center is the only Academic Level I Adult and Pediatric Level II verified Trauma Center in Colorado, verified by the American College of Surgeons.

911 Emergency Response
Denver Health operates Denver’s 911 medical emergency response system. In 2011, Denver Health paramedics
responded to more than 80,000 calls for emergency medical assistance and transported nearly 49,000 patients to 12 area hospitals.

Community Health Services
Denver Health’s Community Health Services manages more than 365,000 outpatient visits annually.

• Family Health Centers: Eight community health centers located throughout Denver neighborhoods provide convenient primary care services.
• School-based Health Centers: Sixteen School-based Health Centers in Denver Public Schools offer on-site medical care to elementary, middle and high school students.

Public Health
Denver Public Health (DPH) serves as the center for communicable disease reporting, surveillance, investigation and control for the City and County of Denver. An integral part of Denver Health, infectious disease physicians from DPH work with hospital physicians on disease prevention and treatment throughout the hospital and family health centers. Through numerous grant-funded programs, DPH conducts important research on infectious diseases including hepatitis surveillance; tuberculosis clinical
trials; HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling, testing and treatment; and vaccine trials.

Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center
Denver Health offers many alternatives to expensive emergency room visits and/or hospitalization. The Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center (RMPDC) handles many minor poisoning emergencies by telephone. In addition, the Center’s staff of toxicologists cares for seriously ill patients in the hospital.

Through Denver Health’s 24-hour NurseLine, more than 91,000 patients get free and confidential answers to health-related questions, to avoid costly emergency room visits.

Denver CARES
Behavioral Health Services manages Denver CARES, a 100-bed, non-medical facility, which provides a safe setting for more than 27,000 detoxifying public inebriates each year.

Quality
Among 117 leading academic hospitals in the US (University HealthSystem Consortium), Denver Health has ranked in the best five percent for inpatient survival for three consecutive years and is the only safety net hospital in the US to be ranked in the top 10 in overall quality.