New medical plaza opens in Colorado mountain community

Buck Creek Medical Plaza is home to Centura Health and Colorado Mountain Medical.

Photo courtesy of Buck Creek Medical Plaza

A new three-story, 48,400-square-foot medical facility that offers outpatient and emergency care in an underserved mountain community has opened in Avon, Colo.

Less than a year after groundbreaking, Buck Creek Medical Plaza now serves as home to anchor tenants Centura Health and Colorado Mountain Medical.

The medical plaza has been designed to accommodate a full range of outpatient services, including primary and specialty physician care, diagnostic imaging, and emergency care so that patients can enjoy  convenient and coordinated care in a one-stop facility.

The plaza is designed to accommodate a full range of services.

Photo courtesy of Buck Creek Medical Plaza

The medical plaza also offers a centralized location with scenic views, convenient access to a major interstate highway and free parking.

The owner and developer is NexCore Group LLC, Denver, which develops health care facilities for hospitals, health systems and physicians. The architect is Davis Partnership Architects, Denver, and construction manager is Calcon Constructors, Englewood, Colo.

A primary challenge in building the medical plaza was finding real estate that was suitable for the facility. After locating an ideal site not originally for sale, NexCore collaborated with the town of Avon, the local fire department and other property owners to resolve the issue to everyone’s satisfaction. 

Brooks Bock, M.D., CEO of anchor tenant Colorado Mountain Medical, a multispecialty physician group that has been in the area for 35 years, expressed his gratitude for the outcome of the collaboration that led to the project’s success.

Leaders say the facility's new design will help it compare favorably to competition.

Photo courtesy of Buck Creek Medical Plaza

Jeff Brickman, president, Mountains North Operating Group for Centura Health, the co-anchor at the facility, echoed Bock’s sentiment.

 “We have taken a long time looking at the needs of all the communities that we serve and the significant cost pressures of healthcare in mountain communities,” Brickman says.

‘We’re very excited to be a part of this community. We’re excited to provide choice. We’re very excited to develop health care in a way that will sustain health and wellness,” he says.

In the end, the project was a success for everyone involved. NexCore ended up with the lot it wanted with the best frontage, views and access for its health care clients.

The fire division ended up with a site that works better for it, while also realizing a financial gain to help accelerate its own development. The town of Avon and Vail Valley gained an important asset to attract and retain visitors and quality jobs.

“There are no truly comparable medical buildings in Avon or the surrounding communities that will be able to offer the image, referral base and patient convenience of Buck Creek Medical Plaza,” says Todd Varney, managing principal, NexCore.

“With the lack of adequate resources to identify quality physicians, patients often attribute quality of the location to the quality of practice,” he says. “Buck Creek Medical Plaza will provide the image quality to give physicians a leg up against the competition.”

In other health care facility news:

• The Village Assisted Living & Memory Care, Denton, Texas, a new senior living community, will celebrate its opening Oct. 4.The Village has 107 units, including 75 assisted living and 32 memory care private units.

  Among the amenities and services are a Bistro/bar, library and computer lounge, hair and nail salon, chef-prepared meals, chapel, fireplace, theater room, arts and crafts room, and fitness area. The community is managed by Integral Senior Living (ISL).

• HealthSouth Corp. and Tidelands Health have formed a joint venture to own and operate Tidelands' existing inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Murrells Inlet, S.C., located on the campus of the health system's Waccamaw Community Hospital. The joint venture expects to operate 29 inpatient rehabilitation beds at this location.

  In addition, the joint venture plans to file a Certificate of Need application to build a second, 46-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital that will be located in Little River, S.C. The hospital will supplement the joint venture's ability to provide comprehensive, inpatient physical rehabilitation to residents of the Little River area.

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