City: Denver, CO

Category: Health Care

Telephone: (303) 778-1955

Address: 2525 S. Downing St.

Description: This hospital on Denver’s southern border is a 369-bed, acute-­care hospital that boasts more than 1,200 physicians. A division of Centura Health and a nonprofit organization, it’s one of four—along with Parker Adventist in Parker, Littleton Adventist Hospital, and Avista Adventist Hospital in Boulder County—affiliated under Rocky Mountain Adventist Healthcare. It was founded in 1930 by Denver pioneer and businessman Henry M. Porter after he was impressed by his treatment at California hospitals that were owned by the Seventh-­Day Adventist Church. He and his daughter gave the church $315,000 and 40 acres to start a hospital in Denver. The hospital’s mission is “to serve as a continuation of the healing ministry of Christ.” Its specialties include cancer care and cancer support, heart care and healthy heart programs, the Clyde G. Kissinger Center for Sight, the Porter Birthplace, Porter Breastcare, a center for treatment of substance abuse and eating disorders, transplant services, and education programs in areas such as stress management, weight control, nutrition counseling, smoking cessation, and alcohol education. Independence Square helps cardiac rehabilitation patients return to normal activities by simulating situations patients will encounter when discharged from the hospital.