Denver Health

Denver Health Medical Center was established in 1860 as City Hospital. The hospital was founded near 11th and Wazee, but in 1873, a new medical center was built at the corner of 6th Avenue and Cherokee; this is where Denver Health Main Campus is located to this day. Denver Health has gone by many names, including City Hospital, the Poor House, County Hospital, Arapahoe County Hospital, Denver General Hospital in 1923, and now Denver Health Medical Center in 1997. In 1989, a book was written about the Denver General emergency room, The Knife and Gun Club, Scenes from an Emergency Room by photographer Eugene Richards which received an Award of Excellence from the American College of Emergency Physicians. The book is a collection of stories taken from the emergency department and ambulances. The emergency room of Denver Health gained the nickname "Knife and Gun Club" due to the frequency of knife and gun related injuries. ==Governance==

Denver Health Medical Center is part of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority, abbreviated to Denver Health, an integrated health care system that consists of the main hospital, 911 response and EMS, poison and toxicology, family health centers, school-based clinics, detoxification services, correctional care, and medical response to terrorism, mass casualties and epidemics. The Authority is governed by an eleven-member Board of Directors who are appointed for five years by the Mayor of Denver and confirmed by the Denver City Council. Denver Health's CEO is Donna Lynne, DrPH. The hospital was previously a component of the Denver government under the Denver Department of Health and Hospitals. Challenges encountered from this model of governance included a lack of purchasing authority, a lack of centralized governance, and a history of budget deficits. The Authority was created by the Colorado General Assembly in 1994 as a political subdivision of the state. ==See also==