DENVER — Concerns continue to amplify surrounding the future of Colorado's only safety net hospital, which provides care to patients who can't pay.
Dr. Donna Lynne, CEO of Denver Health, shared their unsettling reality with Denver city and county leaders during Tuesday’s finance and governance committee meeting.
“Denver Health is at a critical, critical point,” Lynne told committee members.
Lynne said they're being forced to take drastic measures to meet financial demands as uncompensated care costs continue to grow.
“So how have we managed so far in the face of some of the demands that we have? We close beds,” Lynne said. “To me, that's abominable. I don't want to do that. But because our operating costs exceed what our revenues are, we are turning down patients every day, particularly in the area of mental health and substance abuse.”
There are 78 inpatient beds for substance abuse and mental health patients. Lynne said they've had to close at least 15 beds because they don't have the money.
“We also reduced the salary increases to our employees who are under increasing duress and escalating levels of violence,” Lynne said.
Lynne said in 2020, Denver Health lost $60 million from uncompensated care. That number doubled to $120 million two years later. Then in 2023, it reached $136 million, with $35 million of that coming from patients who live outside of Denver.
"Many other hospitals are not hospitable to some of the patients that we see, whether they are of different ethnic groups or other gender definitions,” Lynne said during the committee meeting.
Denver Health is required by law to treat anyone who comes into the hospital, regardless of their financial status or where they're from.
"Where do you think the migrants are getting care? They are getting care at Denver Health,” Lynne said. “We have seen 8,000 migrants for 20,000 visits. I suspect that no other hospital system in the state of Colorado can say that."
Yet, there's been no reimbursement for that, according to Lynne. She said migrants are visiting the emergency room, getting vaccines, giving birth, and receiving other care in their facilities. Because of this, Denver Health is lobbying for more state and federal funding.
"While I have tremendous compassion for what's going on, it's heartbreaking, it's going to break Denver Health in a way that we didn't even anticipate," Lynne said.
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