Community Hospital and Montrose Regional Health Explore Partnership to Strengthen Care in Western Colorado

The proposed collaboration aims to create efficiencies and keep care local while allowing both hospitals to remain independent.

Published on Mar. 10, 2026

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Community Hospital and Montrose Regional Health have signed a letter of intent to explore a partnership that they say could strengthen healthcare services across western Colorado and eastern Utah. The proposed collaboration would create a new tax-exempt nonprofit entity focused on helping the two organizations work together on operational and business functions while keeping separate leadership, boards, employees, and facilities.

Why it matters

The move comes as independent hospitals face growing financial pressures, including rising costs and changing reimbursement models. The partnership aims to create efficiencies and save millions of dollars annually, allowing the hospitals to focus on their healthcare mission and keep care local for patients.

The details

Under the proposed structure, the hospitals would collaborate on non-clinical operations such as group purchasing, long-term planning, IT alignment, and revenue cycle management. Leaders say combining these efforts could save $10-30 million per year. The partnership is not a merger and would not eliminate jobs, but rather create efficiencies while keeping care and employment local.

  • The conversations about the potential partnership began earlier this year, around July 2025.
  • The letter of intent is non-binding and marks the beginning of an exploratory process.
  • Both organizations expect to continue negotiations through the coming months, with the goal of finalizing a definitive agreement later in 2026.
  • If approved by hospital boards and regulators, leaders say the partnership could launch sometime in 2026.

The players

Community Hospital

A hospital located in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Montrose Regional Health

A hospital located in Montrose, Colorado.

Chris Thomas

President and CEO of Community Hospital in Grand Junction.

Jeff Mengenhausen

CEO of Montrose Regional Health.

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What they’re saying

“If we can really save $10, $20 or $30 million a year doing those things together, it just means we're stronger to do our health care mission here in our community.”

— Chris Thomas, President and CEO of Community Hospital (westernslopenow.com)

“We were seeing all of our expenses grow, reimbursement getting cut through legislation, third-party payers putting pressure on us. So we started figuring out how we can collaborate, stay independent and still get some of the savings that large health systems have.”

— Jeff Mengenhausen, CEO of Montrose Regional Health (westernslopenow.com)

“It is vitally important to remain independent, focused on our community and have local boards making decisions. Keeping care local means patients don't have to drive to Denver or Salt Lake City for great care.”

— Jeff Mengenhausen, CEO of Montrose Regional Health (westernslopenow.com)

What’s next

Both organizations expect to continue negotiations through the coming months, with the goal of finalizing a definitive agreement later in 2026. If approved by hospital boards and regulators, leaders say the partnership could launch sometime in 2026.

The takeaway

This partnership between Community Hospital and Montrose Regional Health aims to create efficiencies and save millions of dollars annually, allowing the independent hospitals to remain focused on their healthcare mission and keep care local for patients in western Colorado and eastern Utah. The collaboration highlights the challenges facing independent hospitals and the innovative ways they are working to strengthen services and remain competitive.