COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – Colorado Springs voters have approved a plan to lease the city-owned Memorial Health System to University of Colorado Health, a new organization formed by University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora and Poudre Valley Health System in Fort Collins.

About 83 percent of voters Tuesday supported the lease plan.

Under the 40-year lease agreement, the city gets $5.6 million annually, and University of Colorado Health will pay $3 million annually toward establishing a medical school at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

The city also gets $74 million up front, plus $185 million from University of Colorado Health so the city can buy out of the current pension plan for Memorial’s roughly 4,000 employees. University of Colorado Health is creating its own pension plan for employees.

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