NEWS RELEASE
CENTURA HEALTH
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Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital, which remains temporarily closed following its evacuation during the Marshall Fire on Dec. 30, announced that it will reopen to patients and communities on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, less than three weeks after the fire threatened the hospital.
Although flames spared the building, smoke damage affected the interior. Since the fire, the hospital has been undergoing extensive professional cleaning 24 hours a day with approximately 100 workers from Servpro and an industrial hygienist working to ensure the facility is safe and ready for caregivers and patients. The hospital’s air quality is in excellent condition in preparation for the first patients on Tuesday; all air filtration systems were replaced and more than 200 “air scrubbers” have been operating 24/7 since the fire. The cleanup also includes extensive testing of air and water quality, extensive and repeated wipe-downs of every surface, and testing of all equipment.
“When we reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 18, our patients can be certain that our hospital is 100 percent safe and fully ready to serve them,” said Isaac Sendros, CEO of Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital. “Our Avista teams and professional cleaning partners are working tirelessly to clean every inch of our building, and our caregivers and I are excited to welcome our communities back and extend our healing Mission as we have since 1896.”
Avista caregivers will be invited to return before the building opens to patients, in order to prepare but also to take a moment to reflect and reconnect. Among Avista employees, 12 lost their homes in the fire, and others suffered a partial loss. Centura Health is continuing to support them with temporary housing, financial assistance and paid time off for those unable to work.
“As wonderful as our reopening will be for our Avista ministry and community, we are sensitive to our colleagues who have suffered losses from the fire and the hundreds of neighbors whose homes burned while the hospital was spared,” Sendros said. “We will continue to keep them in our prayers and support them during rebuilding.”
Centura is continuing to accept donations for our impacted caregivers via drop-off locations or online donations.
Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital’s reopening will mark 19 days since the fire devastated neighborhoods in the area and came within feet of liquid oxygen tanks near the hospital. Employees were able to stop flames from reaching the tanks using hoses and buckets of water. They also shut down air systems inside just minutes after detecting smoke, which preserved the building from suffering more significant smoke damage.
In coordination with local authorities during the fire, caregivers safely and swiftly evacuated all 51 patients in less than two hours, with all caregivers evacuating safely soon after, and there was no loss of life. Among the evacuated patients, 21 were discharged home and 30 were transferred to other Centura Health hospitals.
Centura-Adventist Hospital is a 114-bed facility with more than 600 caregivers in Louisville, CO. The hospital is CMS Five-Star-rated for high quality and received multiple patient safety “A” grades in 2021 from The Leapfrog Group.
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