Denver Health (hospital), formerly named Denver General Hospital, is a hospital in the

Lincoln Park neighborhood Lincoln Park is a designated community area on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is located west of Lincoln Park. History In 1824, the United States Army built a small post near today's Clybourn Avenue and Armitage Avenue (former ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, founded in 1860. It is one of seven Level I Trauma Centers in Colorado. Denver Health (hospital) is one of the primary teaching hospitals in Denver and is affiliated with the

University of Colorado School of Medicine The University of Colorado School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Colorado system. It is located at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, one of the four University of Colorado campuses, six mil ...

History

Denver Health (hospital) was established in 1860 as City Hospital. The hospital was founded near 11th and Wazee, but in 1873, a new medical center was built at the corner of 6th Avenue and Cherokee; this is where Denver Health Main Campus is located to this day. Denver Health (hospital) has gone by many names including City Hospital, the Poor House, County Hospital, Arapahoe County Hospital, Denver General Hospital in 1923, and now Denver Health (hospital) in 1997. The hospital was well known for founding the first nursing school west of the Mississippi and for being one of the earliest facilities for treating Tuberculosis. The hospital employed many health care visionaries, including

Florence Sabin Florence Rena Sabin (November 9, 1871 – October 3, 1953) was an American medical scientist. She was a pioneer for women in science; she was the first woman to hold a full professorship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the first woman el ...

who was instrumental in creating a functional Public Health department. In 1989, a book was written about the Denver General

emergency room An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pat ...

, ''The Knife and Gun Club, Scenes from an Emergency Room'' by photographer

Eugene Richards Eugene Richards (born 1944) is an American documentary photographer living in Brooklyn, New York. He has published many books of photography and has been a member of Magnum Photos and of VII Photo Agency. He was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. ...

which received an Award of Excellence from the American College of

Emergency Physician An emergency physician (often called an "ER doctor" in the United States) is a physician who works in an emergency department to care for ill patients. The emergency physician specializes in advanced cardiac life support (advanced life support ...

s. The book is a collection of stories taken from the

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

and ambulances. The emergency room of Denver Health (hospital) gained the nickname "Knife and Gun Club" due to the frequency of knife and gun related injuries.

Governance

Denver Health (hospital) is part of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority, abbreviated to Denver Health (organization), an integrated health care system that consisting of a main hospital, 911 response and EMS, poison and toxicology, family health centers, school-based clinics, detoxification services,

correctional In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and su ...

care, and medical response to

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

, mass casualties and

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

s. The Authority is governed by an eleven-member Board of Directors who are appointed for five years by the

Mayor of Denver This is a list of mayors of Denver, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Mayors of Denver can now serve three four-year terms. List See also *List of municipalities in Colorado * Bibliography of Colorado *Geog ...

and confirmed by the

Denver City Council The Denver City Council is the legislative branch of government for the City and County of Denver, Colorado. The council is made up of thirteen elected officials from eleven City and county designated districts and two at-large elected members. ...

. Denver Health's CEO is Donna Lynne, DrPH. The hospital was previously a component of the Denver government under the Denver Department of Health and Hospitals.AN ACT Concerning the creation of the Denver health and hospital authority
. Session Laws of Colorado, 1994, chapter 126, approved April 19, 1994. Codified at

Colorado Revised Statutes The ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.) are a legal code of Colorado, the codified general and permanent statutes of the Colorado General Assembly. Publication The ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' are revised and published by the Revisor o ...

(C.R.S.) §§ 25-29-101 et seq. Challenges encountered from this model of governance included a lack of purchasing authority, a lack of centralized governance, and a history of budget deficits. The Authority was created by the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in ...

in 1994 as a political subdivision of the state. On January 1, 1997, the hospital and health system were transferred from Denver Department of Health and Hospitals to the Authority. Denver Health's successful governance change inspired Alameda County Medical Center's change to a hospital authority separate from the county.

Organization

Denver Health provides communicable disease surveillance and medically oriented

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

functions through their Denver Public Health department. Through grant-funded programs, Denver Public Health conducts research on

infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

, including

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

surveillance;

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

clinical trials; HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling, testing and treatment; and vaccine trials. The Denver Department of Environmental Health manages and oversees the operating agreement to contract with Denver Health to provide services related to the medical investigations and medical services for

disease control Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health a ...

(including clinics) and the administration of vital birth and death records. Denver Department of Environmental Health and Denver Public Health work together to conduct communicable disease reporting, investigation, and control for Denver. Public and

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

functions and regulatory authority remains with Denver Department of Environmental Health. Denver Health's Denver Health Paramedic Division, a hospital-based

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

service, is based out of Denver Health (hospital), Pavilion A.

References

External links

Denver Health
{{authority control Hospitals in Colorado Buildings and structures in Denver Hospitals established in 1860 Hospital buildings completed in 1873 1860 establishments in Kansas Territory University of Colorado Denver Public hospitals in the United States Trauma centers