Long-awaited Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center to open

The oft-delated, 1 million-square-foot new VA regional medical center for Denver-area patients will soon be serving patients.

VA will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Rocky Mountain Regional Medical Center at 10 a.m. July 21, at 700 N. Wheeling St., Aurora, Colo. Speakers will include Ralph Bozella, chairman of The American Legion’s Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission, and Sallie Houser-Hanfelder, director of VA’s Eastern Colorado Health Care System. Other speakers include several members of Colorado’s congressional delegation: U.S. Reps. Jared Polis, Ed Perlmutter, Diana DeGette and Mike Coffman as well as U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner and Mike Bennett. Acting VA Secretary Peter O’Rourke is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.

The new medical center will replace the nearly 70-year-old VA hospital just east of downtown Denver. Outpatient services will start moving from the Clermont Street site in Denver to the new facilities in Aurora on July 27. The emergency room at the old hospital closes Aug. 4.

The PTSD clinic and other medical services will remain at the old hospital for the foreseeable future. The modern spinal cord injury unit will not open for about six months.

For more information or a map of the hospital complex go to www.denver.va.gov/about/coming-soon.asp.