(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Optum Briargate off Research Parkway in Colorado Springs will close down its OBGYN unit in mid-August. This is after closing a clinic in Fountain last fall.
In July, Optum closed its Urgent Care locations in Colorado Springs.
If there’s anything that’s clear by digging through hundreds of pages of financial reports from Optum, the company has a lot of money.
United Healthcare Group, which owns Optum, according to reported financial earnings, in the first quarter of 2024, the company made $99.8 billion, up $8 billion from the same time frame the year prior. In 2023, the group made $371.6 billion.
The OBGYN unit’s closure comes without warning to nearby Peak Vista Community Health Centers.
Joel Tanaka, M.D. is the Chief Medical Officer at Peak Vista Community Health Centers. “There is far more demand for care than supply in this community. When you take all of the medical facilities and put them together… that’s why a lot of us have been partnering together for several years,” Dr. Tanaka said.
“With regards to Optum, I can’t speak to why they are closing their women’s health services in August, however, what I can tell you is, there is already a strain here in the community. This is well documented both locally and nationally in terms of physician shortages, OBGYN physicians, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners.”
Peak Vista Community Health Centers is a nonprofit. “As a nonprofit, we still have to have a margin, but the difference is what we do with that margin, what we do with that money…. we reinvest it in the program and our community, based on the community need.”
Peak Vista Community Health Centers freely offered up financial documents… however, it was a different story with Optum.
FOX21 News emailed Optum three different ways: to a local representative, through the email listed on its website, and through an email listed on financial reports.
We wanted to know:
How many patients this will impact in Colorado Springs.
Details on why Optum opted to close specialties, including what specialties will close and have closed.
If, for budget reasons, to disclose a breakdown locally (Colorado Springs) or statewide of the profit or loss from each specialty.
Out of the three people we reached out to, none could meet the deadline for a response.
Eventually, FOX21 did receive the following statement, (which included a spelling error).
The health and well-being of our patients in Colorado Sprints is our top priority. Though we have made the difficult decision to discontinue OB/GYN services at the Briargate Clinic, we are focused on ensuring continuity of care in the community, including uninterrupted care for patients in advanced stages of their pregnancies
Statement from Company Spokesperson
The statement answered zero of our questions, so we responded by asking for the questions to be answered. Optum stood by its statement.
We listened to United Health Group’s Q2 earnings call which revealed Optum’s second-quarter revenue grew over $6 billion from the year prior.
For more information on Optum’s reported earnings click through the links above.
