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About Us

Full service medical center

Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center is proud to provide personalized medical care close to home. First established in 1885 as the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Hospital, HRRMC initially catered to railroad employees and their families during the great western expansion. The railroad company sold the hospital in 1962 to a group of local community leaders. For 14 years, the Salida Hospital, as it was then known, was run as a private entity.

In 1976, the local investors were repaid when the Salida Hospital District was formed, making it a publicly owned institution. In 1989, the Salida Hospital was officially renamed Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center to better reflect the offered services. Our facility now serves the visitors to and residents of the Salida Hospital District, which includes Chaffee, western Fremont, and northern Saguache counties.

Accreditation from The Joint Commission

Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center is an officially accredited Critical Access Hospital by The Joint Commission.

The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. We are committed to providing exceptional health care and this accreditation furthers our mission and vision.

The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals we are following include:

  • Identifying patients correctly
  • Improving communication among caregivers
  • Using medications safely
  • Using clinical alarms safely
  • Preventing infections
  • Universal protocol for using "time-outs" prior to invasive procedures

Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center was named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in the U.S. in 2019, according to The National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Institute, iVantage Health Analytics and The Chartis Center for Rural Health.

The hospitals that are named to this list are top performers in managing risk, achieving higher quality, securing better outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction and operating at a lower cost than their peers. HRRMC was one of only three Critical Access Hospitals in Colorado named to the list.

Learn more about HRRMC via the navigation bar to the left.