A freestanding emergency department with eight exam rooms, two trauma bays, and a helipad is set to open just south of The Aurora Highlands Parkway exit along E-470 on September 29, giving residents a nearby option for close-to-home medical care. The $81 million, 88,000-square-foot AdventHealth Aurora Highlands facility sits near The Aurora Highlands community.
The three-story building was designed with growth in mind, according to The Aurora Highlands. The facility will provide 24/7 emergency care and imaging services, including X-rays and CT scans. The second floor holds 27 specialty clinic exam rooms meant to accommodate primary care, OB/GYN, orthopedics, and cardiology practices. The third floor remains shelled space, reserved for future buildout as community needs grow.
The campus includes a doctor's office and emergency room. Its geothermal system is designed to reduce energy consumption.
A Neighborhood Built for Tens of Thousands
The Aurora Highlands is a community, and its growth is part of why AdventHealth built here. The development's master land plan also earned the national Grand Award for Best Community Land Plan at the 2025 Gold Nugget Awards, held during the PCBC real estate conference in California, according to Builder Magazine.
Underneath the new medical campus, a geothermal heating and cooling system helps reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption. The system fulfills AdventHealth's commitment under the federal Health Sector Climate Pledge to halve operational emissions by 2030, and it earned the project a 2025 CAHED Silver Award, according to The Aurora Highlands.
Off-Site Department Today, Hospital Tomorrow
The Aurora Highlands notes that, when it opens, the facility will operate as a department of AdventHealth Parker. AdventHealth's multi-phased master plan for the site envisions eventually growing the emergency center into a full-service, acute care Level III trauma hospital.
AdventHealth Parker, the hospital that will oversee the new Aurora Highlands ER, is undergoing its own major expansion. The Parker campus broke ground in January 2025 on a tower that will add 159 beds, six operating rooms, and a new catheterization and interventional radiology suite, bringing its total capacity to 329 beds, according to Healthcare Design Magazine.
Part of a Bigger Denver Metro Push
The Aurora Highlands opening lands amid a wider consolidation of hospital power in the Denver area. In July 2026, AdventHealth and Intermountain Health signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture and expected to sign a definitive agreement later, which would place eight regional hospitals under AdventHealth's daily operational leadership pending 2027 regulatory review, combining five AdventHealth facilities with three Intermountain hospitals, according to Healthcare Dive. Hoodline previously covered that deal in its major Denver power shift.
