Denver Hospital Adds Dedicated Women's Health Center

A major Denver hospital has opened a dedicated women's health center, consolidating gynecological care, breast health screening, and related specialty services that had previously been spread across separate departments into a single, integrated program.

Women's health center director Dr. Naomi Castellano says the consolidated model responds to patient feedback describing a fragmented experience navigating separate departments and scheduling systems for related women's health needs. "Patients were bouncing between different parts of the hospital system for care that really should feel coordinated," Castellano said. "We wanted one place where that coordination actually happens for patients."

Consolidating Care Under One Coordinated Program

The new center brings together gynecology, breast health screening and diagnostics, and related specialty consultations under shared administrative and clinical coordination, allowing for more streamlined scheduling and communication between providers treating the same patient across what were previously more siloed departments. Castellano says this consolidation required significant organizational restructuring, since the previously separate departments had different scheduling systems and clinical workflows that needed to be reconciled.

The center has also introduced a patient navigator role, specifically for patients who receive concerning screening results and need coordinated follow-up across multiple specialists, addressing what Castellano describes as one of the most stressful points in the previous, more fragmented care model.

Responding to Patient Experience Research

The women's health center's design was informed by patient experience research showing that women often found navigating multiple appointments and providers for related health needs to be a significant source of stress, particularly when dealing with concerning diagnostic findings requiring coordinated follow-up across specialties. Hospital officials say early patient feedback since the center's opening has been notably positive regarding the improved coordination and reduced administrative burden compared to the hospital's previous, more fragmented approach.

Hospital officials say they're evaluating whether the consolidated care model used for the women's health center could serve as a template for similar consolidation efforts in other clinical areas where patients currently navigate multiple, loosely coordinated departments for related health needs.