Nonprofit Community

Update on Sponsorship Transfer for Exempla Healthcare System

Community First Foundation is moving forward with transferring its membership interest in Exempla Healthcare to the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System (SCLHS), a transaction that unlocks millions in funding for Exempla and the Foundation.

The proceeds of $311 million provide Community First Foundation with a significant endowment that will be invested back into the community to fund metropolitan Denver nonprofits that support health and well-being. The transaction also calls for SCLHS to invest $300 million for improvements, growth and expansion at all three Exempla hospitals. Exempla Healthcare opposes the transaction for a number of reasons, and one of their claims is that the proceeds to Community First Foundation will be misdirected. Our philanthropic mission as a community foundation has been unchanged since we first became an Exempla sponsor in 1997 and supported the nine dimensions of health: physical, emotional, environmental, educational, economic/financial, occupational, social, spiritual and aesthetic. By completing this transaction, the Foundation will have funding that is rightly focused on extending, not restricting, its support to organizations that help meet critical healthcare needs that cannot be addressed in a hospital setting. For more information on the sponsorship transfer, visit

www.CommunityFirstFoundation.org/CommitmenttoExempla or www.healingdenverhealthcare.org