Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
When a surgery in early 2020 went unexpectedly wrong, Shawn Sorenson’s heart stopped. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of a remarkable group of Intermountain caregivers, his life was saved, and he went home in less than a week. Shawn and his wife, Daun, set a goal to personally thank all the caregivers involved in his miraculous recovery. A global pandemic slowed them down, but they were recently able to connect with the last physician on their list. Both say they want all Intermountain caregivers to know your efforts are noticed and appreciated. “The way they made us feel when we were there was so great,” Shawn says. “Honestly, they made me want to get better, and not just physically. They made me want to be a better person. To care like some of them care. They were huge examples to us. What they do makes a difference.”
What resulted to be a month-long stay at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, now has a family from Eastern Idaho feeling extra grateful this holiday season. “I thank the doctors at Primary Children’s Hospital who looked deeper, asked questions, and looked for understanding from us so we could find an early diagnoses and get the intervention we need,” said Brittainy. However, the Moala family gratitude didn’t end with one individual. Many caregivers in the Primary Children’s Hospital PICU worked around the clock to care for Revie – from physicians, nurses, therapists, technicians, and others, played such a pivotal role in Revie’s diagnosis and ongoing care.
Matt’s Place, an outpatient pediatric behavioral health center located in Centerville, Utah, will now be part of Intermountain Healthcare and operate as part of the Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital network of pediatric behavioral health services in Utah. “Adding a highly effective and respected operation like Matt’s Place to the behavioral health services of Primary Children’s Hospital and Intermountain will be a powerful tool in helping meet the increasing needs in our community,” said Katy Welkie, CEO of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital and vice president of Intermountain Children’s Health. “Together we’ll be able to collaborate, support, and learn from each other and help more patients receive the right service at the right place and time.”
“We launched this transformational initiative because pediatric health experts are caring for more and more children every day and are seeing their needs become more complex and specialized,” said businesswoman, civic leader and philanthropist Gail Miller. “Our children are our future, and we believe it is essential that we take this opportunity of a lifetime to support their physical and emotional needs, now and far into the future.” The #PrimaryPromise campaign launched today to create the nation’s model health system for children represents the most significant investment in the health and wellness of children across Utah and the Intermountain West. With a minimum goal of $600 million needed to bring this vision to life, Primary Promise, so far has secured $464 million in a powerful partnership between philanthropic members of the community and Intermountain Healthcare. The objective of the Primary Promise to create the nation’s model health system for children includes three broad components and associated projects, programs, and facilities.
The Intermountain Healthcare Board of Trustees is excited to announce that Rob Allen, Intermountain’s chief operating officer, has been selected as the new president and CEO for the organization. In his time with Intermountain, Rob has served as a region operating officer, CEO of Park City Hospital, region vice president and most recently as chief operating officer for the health system, a role he has held for nearly six years. Given his long-standing history with the organization, Rob is fully aware of the opportunities and challenges we face as an organization. His experience is well-suited to move the organization forward. Rob will assume the president and CEO role at Intermountain’s Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, December 1, 2022. As he assumes his new responsibilities, he is eager to continue to round in our markets and regions to hear directly from our caregivers.
Our caregivers give our patients and communities hope in a time of fear and uncertainty. This Thanksgiving season and every day, we're grateful and inspired by the service, commitment, compassion and resiliency that every member of our Intermountain Healthcare team demonstrates day in and day out. Thank you for the services and care you so expertly deliver, and for helping our patients and communities live their healthiest lives possible. Wishing everyone a healthy, safe and restorative Thanksgiving holiday.
When Teri Fostvedt and Amber Neely, both OR nurses at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT, went out for a trail run recently, they had no idea they’d end up saving each other’s life as they went face-to-face with a cougar who punctured Amber’s leg with a swipe of its claws and wouldn’t leave until a “divinely inspired” rock throw changed the mountain lion’s mind.
Intermountain Healthcare is the first health system in Utah to use a new tool that utilizes artificial intelligence to aid doctors in detecting colorectal polyps in real time during a colonoscopy to help patients fight colon cancer. This new technology, called GI Genius, is being used at four Intermountain hospitals: Intermountain Heber Valley Hospital, Intermountain Fillmore Hospital, Intermountain Delta Community Hospital, and Intermountain Cedar City Hospital, to improve colorectal polyp detection, remove pre-cancerous colorectal polyps early, and save more lives. “We are extremely excited for implementation of the GI Genius module,” said Holly Clark, MD, gastroenterologist for Intermountain Heber Valley Hospital and Intermountain Park City Hospital. “This advancement in our endoscopy services will significantly help us to detect pre-cancerous colorectal polyps earlier and help our patients in the Wasatch Back live healthier lives.”
A total of 16 Intermountain Healthcare hospitals received an "A" Hospital Safety Grade in fall 2022 from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization with a 10-year history of assigning letter grades twice per year to general hospitals throughout the United States based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. Congratulations for being recognized with an "A" grade and thank you for your commitment to keeping our patients safe!
Intermountain chaplains often try to help people in need think about what they really deeply believe, even if those beliefs have nothing to do with God or a particular faith. They don’t preach, but they do practice their faith as they reach out with compassion to those in need. At least that’s the case with Chaplain Wes Wilde who works in palliative care at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT. Often he’s speaking with people who have a terminal diagnosis; patients who are dealing with “colossal change” in their lives. “I think some people think we're in there to preach to people,” he says “People who think we’re in there with an agenda couldn’t possibly be further from the truth. If we, as professional chaplains, go in with an agenda, we’re doing it wrong from the outset. We go in and we go where the patient wants to go. We’re not there to fix their body, we’re not there to solve their problems economically or socially. We’re simply in there to be support wherever they need it.”
