Background Statement
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 Hospital 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.
Today, Lutheran Hospital Foundation generates resources to support care and services at Lutheran Hospital and is well positioned to assist individuals and corporations with charitable giving to benefit our community.