UCHealth has broken ground on a $436 million expansion of Memorial Hospital Central in Colorado Springs, a project that will add a six-story inpatient tower, eight new operating rooms, and a larger emergency department to one of the city's busiest hospitals. The construction covers more than 300,000 square feet of new building space, with the new tower alone set to add 50 beds to the facility.
According to Healthcare Design Magazine, the expanded emergency department will include 10 new clinical decision units, giving staff more space to evaluate and treat patients before admission or discharge. The outlet, which credited the report to writer Robert McCune and cited ConnectCRE.com as its source for the construction and expansion details, said the project also designates another 57,000 square feet of existing hospital space for renovation. That renovation work is expected to touch the main lobby, pharmacy, lab, kitchen, and cafeteria.
Memorial Hospital Central currently operates as a 413-bed facility and holds a Level I trauma distinction, which UCHealth's own hospital listing describes as recognition of the hospital's ability to treat severe and complex injuries, per UCHealth. The 50 additional beds from the new tower would build on that existing capacity, though the report did not include a timeline for when the tower or the rest of the expansion is expected to be finished.
Who's Building It
The design and construction team behind the project spans three states. Chicago-based Perkins&Will is serving as architect, Kansas City, Missouri-based JE Dunn Construction is the construction manager, and Milwaukee-based Hammes is acting as project manager, the magazine reported.
This is not the first time Memorial Central has expanded its inpatient capacity. A previous project added a 40-bed buildout across the fifth and sixth floors of the hospital's East Tower, completed in two phases, according to project details from contractor Hensel Phelps. The second of those phases renovated roughly 33,000 square feet, converting shell space on the fifth floor into 20 private acute care beds along with support space, with five isolation rooms built into each floor.
Part of a Broader Growth Push
The Central expansion lands alongside a separate, larger buildout underway at UCHealth's Memorial Hospital North campus, elsewhere in Colorado Springs. That North project similarly includes a six-floor inpatient tower adding 50 beds, new operating rooms, and additional emergency department exam rooms, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. Reported costs for that North project have varied between sources: UCHealth's own 2024 announcement put the figure at $407 million, while a later report from Becker's Hospital Review cited a $463 million groundbreaking figure for the same expansion; the dossier does not explain the discrepancy.
The North campus numbers help explain why UCHealth is investing so heavily across its Colorado Springs facilities. The Gazette reported that hospitalizations at Memorial Hospital North rose 25% between 2020 and 2025, emergency department visits climbed 41%, and surgeries jumped 59% over that same stretch. Becker's Hospital Review separately reported that the North campus's medical and surgical units averaged 94% occupancy the prior year and frequently hit full capacity.
UCHealth's Colorado Springs Hospitals
UCHealth operates Memorial Hospital Central and Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs.
UCHealth, which is based in Aurora, Colorado, has expansion projects underway at both Colorado Springs campuses.
