Swedish Medical Center (Colorado)


 * This article refers to the hospital in Englewood, Colorado. For the hospital in Seattle, Washington, see Swedish Medical Center.

Swedish Medical Center was founded in 1905 in Colorado as a tuberculosis sanatorium. In 1924, the hospital was expanded with funds donated by the Swedish Women of Chicago. In 1956, with the decline of TB as a major health threat, the hospital's focus turned to general healthcare.

Swedish Medical Center was the first hospital in Colorado to use MRI and CT technology, as well as angiography. Swedish is a regional referral center for neurotrauma and was designated a Level I Trauma Center in 2003. Swedish also became the first Comprehensive Stroke Center in Colorado in 2004.

Swedish employs more than 2,000 people and has a medical staff of 1,200 physicians and allied health professionals. The hospital runs many community health programs, including Shots for Tots, a partnership with local Rotary Clubs to provide immunizations to children in need; Doctors Care, which provides healthcare, hospitalization and pharmaceuticals for the medically underserved; and a health clinic at nearby Englewood High School.

Swedish was named one of the "100 Top Hospitals" in the nation by Solucient in 2002 and 2003, in addition to being awarded the "Consumer Choice" award from the National Research Corporation fives times and being named a "Facility of Choice" by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers.