FORT COLLINS - The original Poudre Valley Hospital building, first opened in 1925, will be sacrificed in order for the hospital to expand in the next three years, according to a blog posted Tuesday by hospital CEO Kevin Unger.

A 50,000-square-foot section of PVH near the corner of Lemay Avenue and Doctors Lane will be torn down and replaced with a 113,000-square-foot, two-story building that will allow the hospital to expand a range of services from infusion therapy to emergency-room services.

The plans come at a time when Poudre Valley Health System as a whole is expanding, incorporating new technologies and hiring new employees in droves. PVHS employs 4,300 at last count, and in March, treated its first two patients using a new radiosurgery technology that allows for fast, more precise image-guided technology.

PVHS is growing by forming new relationships as well, with a joint operating agreement with University of Colorado Hospital that will create a new entity called University of Colorado Health.

Together, the two institutions are making a play for Memorial Health System in Colorado Springs, placing a bid of $1.79 billion for a 40-year lease of the city-owned hospital system. The bid won over