relocating to Colorado Springs.

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I am looking to relocate from Washington state to Colorado Springs. I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on either Penrose or Memorial north?

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I don't know about civilian hospitals. Colorado Springs has a lot of military there. Air Force Academy. Fort Carson. Pete field. NORAD. So there a need have you thought VA?

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Hi Patrick! I'm currently a nursing student in Colorado Springs. Personally, I've completed all of my in-town clinical rotations at Memorial Hospital's central campus, but I've heard about both hospital systems through friends at different clinical sites.

In Colorado Springs, there are two major hospital systems - Memorial/University Health and Penrose/Centura. The Memorial system includes Memorial Central (located close to downtown) and Memorial North (in the Northern suburbs, the nicer part of town). Memorial Central has historically been sort of the public/city hospital. They're known for caring for anyone and everyone (which, personally, is one of the things I most like about Memorial). Memorial Central is also a teaching hospital. There are always students from many disciplines (nursing students on every floor, CNA students, occasional med students, etc.). In order to be a good nurse with Memorial, you would need to be a good teacher (or, at the very least, kind and patient). Although Penrose also hosts many students, teaching does not seem to be as much of an emphasis there.

Memorial North is a much newer hospital (built within the last ten years), and it is also much smaller. It's in a very nice, safe, and affluent part of town. I don't know very much about Memorial North because my school does not send students there for clinicals. Last November, the Memorial Health System was acquired by Denver's University Health System. This merger is bringing big changes to Memorial, although those changes aren't clear yet. Both Memorial Central and Memorial North will likely be seeking Magnet Status soon.

The city's second major health system, Penrose/Centura, consists of Penrose Main and Penrose St. Francis. Penrose is a private, Catholic health system. Historically, Penrose has had fewer financial struggles than Memorial. (Although with the recent Memorial/University merger, finances are not as big of a concern for Memorial anymore.) Penrose Main is an older hospital located in an older part of town. Penrose St. Francis is a newer hospital (about the same age as Memorial North) located in the North/East part of the city (very close to Memorial North). If you're interested in the Penrose Health System, I would recommend Penrose St. Francis. It is arguably the best hospital in the city. It has the most up-to-date technology, is in a great location (safe, close to major roads = easy commute, lots of parking...Memorial North also has these perks, as it is right down the road), and seems to receive more awards than the other nearby hospitals. It is also seeking Magnet Status.

Although I don't have any personal experience as a staff nurse at these hospitals, it seems that the nurses are treated the same in both hospital systems. Memorial and Penrose are always competing with each other, and the two systems are quite similar. Personally, I love Memorial, and, if I was looking for a job in Colorado Springs, that's where I would choose to work. Memorial's mission and values just align better with me than Penrose's. However, many of the nursing students I know prefer the Penrose Health System because it tends to have nicer facilities, better funding, and better technology. It really just comes down to your personal preference. I would look at both systems' missions and values and decide which one best aligns with you. Also keep in mind the areas you would be interested in working. For example, Penrose St. Francis and Memorial Central are the two major trauma hospitals in town, and both have Flight for Life programs. If you're interested in trauma, neither Penrose Main nor Memorial North would be a good fit.

That's all that I can think of about the two hospital systems off the top of my head. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask. I'm only a nursing student, so I don't know everything about these hospitals, but I will try to answer everything to the best of my abilities.

Edit: Sorry for the wall of text! Here are the links to the hospital systems' web sites. There will be more information about both hospitals here.

Memorial: http://www.memorialhealthsystem.com/wps/wcm/connect/MHS/MH/Main+Navigation/About+Us/

Penrose: http://www.penrosestfrancis.org/

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Thank you Elisabethm for the answer. WOW. That was great history. I am an ER nurse and am looking in the area by Penrose and memorial north. I have interviewed with memorial and applied with Penrose. I really appreciate the student point of view. I currently work with nursing students in their senior nurse clinical rotations and love the excitement they bring to nursing.

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Have you found a job? I LIVED at Penrose St Francis when i was studying for my prereqs. Such fond fond memories there meeting other nurses who were on lunch during night shift who helped me with A&P. May i add they seriously have five star food most days? :) my mom and i go there for lunch sometimes. Being from the countryside east of The Springs, it is my dream hospital to work at if I decide to move back to The Springs once I finish school (2 years left!).

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Memorial Central is a Level 2 trauma center that is planning on seeking Level One status. It will be the ONLY Level one trauma center in southern Colorado when it happens. Penrose Main is Level two. St. Francis and Memorial North are NOT Trauma centers.

Penrose-St.Francis is also a Catholic hospital. The food there is pretty good but so is Memorial's.

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However, many of the nursing students I know prefer the Penrose Health System because it tends to have nicer facilities, better funding, and better technology.

Since Memorial has become part of UCH they have added an O-arm to their system-the only one in the area. Plus, they have a DaVinci Robot and have hired a lot of new doctors. The days of Penrose being better are going to be over soon-especially when they are approved for Level One Trauma status.

Personally I don't care for the Penrose system.

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I currently work at uch as a CNA, and want to stay with the uch health care system when I become an RN, does memorial hire adn new grads?

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Since Memorial has become part of UCH they have added an O-arm to their system-the only one in the area. Plus, they have a DaVinci Robot and have hired a lot of new doctors. The days of Penrose being better are going to be over soon-especially when they are approved for Level One Trauma status.

Personally I don't care for the Penrose system.

You're right. With the merger with UCH, Memorial is making a ton of changes! They're updating their entire computer system very soon. One thing that I am super excited for is a medication barcode scanner. (Virtually eliminates wrong patient/wrong drug med errors.) They're also adding computers to the patient rooms to facilitate real-time charting. I haven't seen these changes go into effect yet, but I'm excited to see how they impact patient care.

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Thank you Elisabethm for the answer. WOW. That was great history. I am an ER nurse and am looking in the area by Penrose and memorial north. I have interviewed with memorial and applied with Penrose. I really appreciate the student point of view. I currently work with nursing students in their senior nurse clinical rotations and love the excitement they bring to nursing.

I'm glad my post was helpful to you. Good luck with whichever hospital you end up at! :)

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I currently work at uch as a CNA, and want to stay with the uch health care system when I become an RN, does memorial hire adn new grads?

I honestly do not know. I never ask the nurses I'm shadowing if they're adn or bsn (they all seem pretty great to me). I know that Memorial does hire some new grads every year and that they are not all from UCCS/Beth-El (Colorado Springs' BSN program), so I'm assuming that they must hire some ADN's. I really don't know for sure though. I think that since they are wanting magnet status, they would prefer a BSN or, if a new nurse has an ADN, they'd probably want her/him to begin an RN-BSN program pretty soon after being hired. (Beth-El has an online program that has a lot of Memorial nurses in it.) Since you're already working with UCH, you probably have a leg up over other grads who would be applying.

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I am graduating from an Associate's program in NJ in May, and hoping to move to Colorado Springs about a year later. I'm glad to see these posts about the hospital systems - very helpful! My hope is that I can immediately enroll in a BSN program upon graduating, so that hopefully someone here in NJ hires me. (the nursing job market is terrible here right now) Then after I get some experience under my belt, I'm hoping someone in CS will hire me when I move. Hopefully it all works out!

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