Across the U.S., 161 rural hospitals have closed since 2005 and more than 600 more are vulnerable to closure. In an effort to reverse the devastating impacts of these trends, a design team partnered with the hospital and community development agency in the small town of Haxtun, Colorado, to address the multiple issues of health, wellness, economics and design to create an environment that offers a unique and positive community identity and helps improve the quality of life in rural towns throughout the country. The team’s solution — a mixed-use destination with health and wellness as the foundation — serves to generate the population density needed to create an enlivened town center which, in turn, is the key to fostering economic and social wellbeing.