On September 20, 1949, the citizens of Colorado Springs approved electoral ordinances 1854 and 1856 which: a) approved Municipal ownership of Memorial Hospital (now MHS Enterprise), b) created a Board of Trustees and detailed its operational duties and responsibilities, and c) established a tax levy for the operation and maintenance of Memorial Hospital. In order to ensure the continued provision of the highest quality of care to the greater Colorado Springs community, careful consideration was given by the Board of Trustees, the City Council, and the citizens of the City to various options for the ownership, governance, and control of Memorial Hospital, including the option of leasing the assets of Memorial Hospital to an outside independent operator. After determining it to be in the best interest of the public health, safety, and general welfare of the City and its residents, the City Council ultimately approved the City's entry into the Memorial Health System Affiliation dated July 2, 2012, which contemplated transfer of Memorial Hospital assets and the long term lease of Memorial Hospital facilities to a lessee (first Poudre Valley Health Care, Inc., DBA Poudre Valley Health System, an affiliate of University of Colorado Health, then UCH-MHS, also an affiliate of University of Colorado Health). The Attorney General of the State of Colorado approved the Memorial Health System Affiliation, and the transactions and actions contemplated thereby, as required by Colorado law. The voters of the City by referendum approved the Memorial Health System Affiliation, and the transactions and actions contemplated thereby. The Memorial Health System Affiliation became effective on October 1, 2012. Today, MHS Enterprise remains an enterprise of the City of Colorado Springs. City Council hereby finds and determines that it is essential to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region that City owned MHS Enterprise continue to operate and be maintained as a self-sustaining government owned business which issues its own revenue bonds, receives over seventy five percent (75%) of its annual nondebt revenue from nongovernment sources and receives under ten percent (10%) of its annual revenues in grants from all Colorado State and local governments combined.
The City Council hereby finds, determines and declares that it is in the interest of the public health, safety and general welfare for the City to own, operate and maintain (and that the City may own, operate and maintain) MHS Enterprise. (Ord. 15-67)