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An architect’s rendering of hospital Penrose-St. Francis Health Services plans to build on its 57.8-acre site southeast of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway.

An architect’s rendering of hospital Penrose-St. Francis Health Services plans to build on its 57.8-acre site southeast of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway.

Centura Health's new hospital under construction in northern Colorado Springs has gotten a new name, opening date and a higher price tag, the company's top local executive said Monday.

The 72-bed hospital southeast of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway was named St. Clare Hospital for St. Clare of Assisi, founder of a Catholic religious order of nuns, when construction began in May. But Centura officials changed the name last month to St. Francis Hospital-Interquest after market research indicated the St. Francis name, which dates back to a hospital opened near downtown in 1887, was much more recognizable in the Colorado Springs area, said Dr. Brian Erling, CEO of Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, the Centura unit for its Colorado Springs operations.

"Our research supported reinforcing the Penrose-St. Francis brand and not make it more confusing to the consumer. That research showed the brand carries a lot of regional weight even beyond the Colorado Springs area," Erling said. The hospital will still have a connection to St. Clare through a 25-foot custom sculpture that will be erected at the front entrance, as well as other ways to honor the 13th-century nun who was a follower of St. Francis of Assisi, he said.

The name isn't the only change for the hospital. Supply chain disruptions and related issues will delay the hospital's opening until July 2023 and have increased the cost from $150 million to nearly $170 million, Erling said. The additional cost won't impact Centura's ability to complete the project, which is part of a $2 billion expansion by the Centennial-based hospital chain over five years that also includes hospitals in Aurora, Fort Morgan and Dodge City, Kan.

Erling said St. Francis Hospital-Interquest has been designed as a "hospital of the future" with technology that will "transform the way we do health care," that will include video cameras in every room for consultations with medical specialists and visits with family. He said patients and medical personnel will be able to exchange and share medical information through a new mobile application as well as technology to help the hospital "keep track of where everything is."

The hospital, a planned medical office building and surgery center will be the first phase of development on the 58-acre site that is expected to grow over time and rival the size of Centura's St. Francis Hospital in northeast Colorado Springs. The Interquest hospital will include 64 inpatient beds, eight critical care beds (which could be expanded to 24 beds), a 14-bed emergency department, 10 operating rooms with robotic equipment and 30 beds for surgical preparation and recovery.

St. Francis Hospital-Interquest will specialize in orthopedic and spine care and employ about 400 people. It is part of the booming InterQuest area that also includes a new headquarters for Ent Credit Union, patty production and distribution facilities for In-N-Out Burger, and many other employers. The hospital will be the 20th in the Centura system, opening after the Dodge City and Fort Morgan facilities and before the Aurora hospital.

The hospital Monday celebrated general contractor G.E. Johnson Construction placing the last steel beam on the four-story building, a commonly celebrated milestone in major construction projects. The Rev. Timothy Corbley, a Catholic priest working with Centura, said during his opening prayer for the ceremony that the hospital's semi-circular design resembled "the loving arms of God welcoming the sick."

Penrose-St. Francis also is adding 60 more patient rooms to its flagship St. Francis Hospital, formerly St. Francis Medical Center, in an $80 million project that will make it the largest in the Centura network with 347 beds. The expansion is expected to open in August and will add 80 employees to that hospital's staff. Centura also operates Penrose Hospital and several outpatient complexes, rehabilitation centers, imaging facilities and both primary care and specialty medical practices that together employ about 4,000 in the Colorado Springs area.

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