New CEO reveals details of planned Louisville hospital that was delayed for years

A Louisville hospital has a new CEO who takes the reins ahead of a complete renovation of its presence in the north metro area.

Mark Smith stepped on as AdventHealth Avista's new CEO in early April. After a few weeks on the job, he told the Denver Business Journal that despite several years of delays, a new Avista hospital continues to move forward.

The hospital is part of a preliminarily planned development called Redtail Ridge in Louisville, formerly the Phillips 66 property, which has been at the center of years of controversy over its planned scope and activity.

After a failed special election — and the end of medtech company Medtronic’s plans to build a new 90-acre campus on the plot due to delays— Redtail reverted to the original site plan from 2010 and won approval from the Louisville City Council in February to move forward.

expand

AdventHealth

The new hospital is still a part of the plan, meaning Avista would move several miles southeast of its current location at 100 Health Park Drive to the development at U.S. 36 and Northwest Parkway.

Smith said he has watched some of the prior city council meetings it took to get to this point.

"I think a lot of effort and refinement has gone into the master plan," he said.

Smith noted that the Redtail master plan includes more than 139 acres for public parks and trails, which is several times what is required for this kind of development. He said Avista also plans to adhere to best practices in building an environmentally friendly facility.

"I think we always want to be very sensitive to the community that we're that we're providing care to. We're a part of the community, not something that exists apart from it," he said.

Final approval of the master plan is still needed from city leaders, so Smith said he is told that it will likely take up to four years to complete the new hospital. The plan is to ultimately expand Avista's bed count capacity to 200, with a first phase that establishes 150. Currently, Avista's bed count stands at 114.

A new hospital has been on AdventHealth's radar in particular due to the need for better access from a major interchange, which is crucial for emergency medical responders, Smith said.

The hospital continued to move forward on the new campus even after the dissolution of Centura Health, the operator of AdventHealth and CommonSpirit hospitals for 27 years. The end of the partnership that made up Centura thrust AdventHealth into the position of needing to stand up new departments in Colorado quickly.

New and enhanced areas of care

With the northern metro's growing population, Smith said he anticipates adding and expanding cancer care and cardiac services at the hospital, as well as enhancing the neonatal intensive care unit with private rooms and capacity for more high-risk pregnancies.

The hospital will also grow its spine program, services that support pain and neurology, its joint and orthopedic program, and gastrointestinal services.

Smith said AdventHealth will similarly have its eye on new locations for possible primary care and freestanding emergency rooms.

Many plans for the new hospital, including square footage, have yet to be mapped and will take shape as the development plan moves forward. However, the current Avista hospital campus, which is 215,000 square feet, will likely be kept by the health system and put to use for clinical care, Smith said.

As the hospital expands its capabilities, Smith said that he, like all health care executives, has his eye on the workforce. He said he plans to invest a good deal of time exploring how to make team members feel supported in their mission.

"AdventHealth believes that culture is a differentiator of where team members choose to work and how they make decisions about staying with the organization," Smith said. "Being part of AdventHealth, extending the healing ministry of Christ, and that mission-driven focus is one of the biggest things that's important to know for the community about Avista."

He said he also plans to look at supporting roles that make clinicians' work possible.

Smith comes to AdventHealth from MultiCare based in Tacoma, Wash., where he served as president and market leader for the South King County Region and the Auburn and Covington Medical Centers.

Avista's interim CEO Ken Finch had been serving in the role since January 2023, when CEO Isaac Sendros moved to Rome, Georgia, to step on as CEO of AdventHealth Redmond, according to a spokesperson.