Lutheran Medical Center Foundation is a Colorado 501c3 public nonprofit that partners with individuals, businesses, grant makers, physicians and the community to achieve its mission of building philanthropic support for not-for-profit Lutheran Medical Center and all of its affiliated services, including Lutheran Hospice at the Collier Hospice Center and West Pines Behavioral Health.
Our vision is to provide for the changing healthcare needs of our community by building state-of-the-art facilities, developing innovative care models, and making sure every patient has access to world-class care. Our Foundation turns good healthcare into exceptional healthcare by enabling Lutheran’s staff to exceed the expectations of the people we serve.
The Lutheran Medical Center mission is to "...reveal and foster God's healing love by improving the health of the people and communities we serve, especially those who are poor and vulnerable."
The mission of Lutheran Medical Center Foundation is to build philanthropic support for Lutheran Medical Center and all of its affiliated not-for-profit organizations, which include an acute care hospital, hospice center, and behavioral health program.
At the start of the 20th Century, Denver’s population was booming, with residents spreading across the plains to develop agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and more. As the settlement grew, however, so did the need for medical care.
In 1905, congregants from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Denver rallied to the cause of opening a tuberculosis sanitarium to care for the city’s residents and visitors. They raised just over $15,000 to purchase 20 acres of land in Wheat Ridge, a few miles west of Denver. The property had two structures: a two-story farmhouse and a five-room cottage. Patients arrived almost immediately to benefit from the dry, cool air of Colorado’s high plains at the new Evangelical Lutheran Sanitarium.
Over the last 100+ years, the Sanitarium has evolved into Lutheran Medical Center. While the hospital still occupies its original 20-acre parcel, and the farmhouse still stands, today’s campus and its affiliated care sites include an acute care hospital, an accredited hospice and palliative program, behavioral health, and addiction services.
Each year, Lutheran’s staff and physicians deliver approximately 2,000 babies, provide inpatient care for 17,000 individuals and emergency services to 70,000 neighbors, and treat 170,000 people with high-quality outpatient service. Lutheran Medical Center, a member of SCL Health, was recognized by Healthgrades in 2018 as one of America’s Top 50 Best Hospitals, making Lutheran among the top one percent of more than 4,500 hospitals assessed nationwide.
In 2007, Lutheran Medical Center Foundation incorporated as a 501c3 and assumed full responsibility for all fundraising for Lutheran. At the same time, Community First Foundation, Lutheran’s fundraising entity from 1975 to 2007, broadened its reach as a community foundation and, as of 2013, ended its governance role in SCL Health.
Today, Lutheran Hospital Foundation generates resources to support care and services at Lutheran Medical Center and is well positioned to assist individuals and corporations with charitable giving to benefit our community.
Organization name
Lutheran Medical Center Foundation
other names
Lutheran, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center Foundation
2007
Tax id (EIN)
20-8846152
Category
Health Care
Organization Size
Large Organization
Address
8300 W. 38th AvenueMailing
8300 West 38th AvenueJefferson County, CO, US
Phone
303-467-4800
Fax
303-467-4811