For years Denver has attracted those seeking to enjoy the respiratory benefits of the area's climate and mountain air. Today, Denver is the medical center of the Rocky Mountains, operating more than twenty-five major hospitals, many of which have earned national and international reputations as leading medical research and treatment facilities.
The city has a large number of physicians practicing in every specialty.
Among the city's most prominent hospitals are Children's Hospital, a state-of-the-art children's hospital serving a 10-state area. The National Jewish Medical and Research Center is a teaching and research center for respiratory, allergic, and immunological diseases; the center also houses the Environmental Lung Center. The Rose Medical Center offers a wide range of services and specializes in diabetes treatment, obstetrics, and videoscopic surgery and is the health care provider for the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Rush.
Health care services continue to expand in Denver. Among recent developments is the $175 million Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center opened in north Denver in 2003 offering adult critical care, cardiac and vascular, neonatal, radiology and imaging, rehabilitation, surgical, woman and family, pediatrics, and orthopedic services. Other major hospitals in the city include the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, the AMC Cancer Research Center, Denver General Hospital, the Swedish Medical Center, the Colorado Psychiatric Hospital, the St. Anthony Central Hospital, and Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center.