A $407 million expansion of Memorial Hospital North will start in 2026 to enable the hospital to serve more patients in growing north El Paso County and offer more services in the UCHealth system. The new expansion will nearly double the size of the current facility.
“This expansion will enable us to expand our surgical specialties — such as spine and orthopedic surgeries — and offer patients access to nationally recognized specialists throughout UCHealth,” says UCHealth President and CEO Elizabeth B. Concordia. The additional space also will enable Memorial North to grow its cancer center and add clinical trials and advanced treatments.
The 330,000-square-foot expansion will include a six-story inpatient tower that will add 50 beds to the hospital’s current 140, four new operating rooms and a six-level parking structure in the first phase, which will utilize about 45% of the space. The remaining space will provide room for future growth, including 130 additional beds, bringing the hospital’s capacity to 320 beds, and four more operating rooms for an eventual total of 18.
The project also will expand kitchen and dining space, add space to the laboratory and provide space for an additional 21 emergency department exam rooms and future expansion of imaging services. The parking garage will provide 979 stalls, and surface parking will be added.
Construction is expected to begin early this year on the parking garage and completion is projected in 2027, according to a news release. Construction of the tower, which is projected to open to patients in 2029.
Memorial Hospital North opened as a community hospital in 2007. It became part of the UCHealth system in 2012 and underwent an expansion in late 2018 that enlarged the emergency department and added operating rooms. Another addition in early 2019 houses a birth center, pharmacy and oncology services.
“Memorial Hospital North has been operating at or near capacity for the past several years,” UCHealth Memorial Hospital President and CEO Lonnie Cramer says. Inpatient admissions increased 31% from FY2019-2024; visits to the emergency department rose 25% and the number of surgeries performed grew 53%.
Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs, which opened in 2019, also is located on the 81-acre Memorial North campus at 4050 Briargate Parkway.
