$100M in gifts from community support Primary Children’s Hospital expertise, expansion

Intermountain Healthcare’s historic plan to build the nation’s model health system for children has received more than $100 million in gifts from community leaders so far, accelerating efforts to expand the clinical expertise of Primary Children’s Hospital.

Katy Welkie, RN, MBA, CEO of Primary Children’s Hospital and vice president of Intermountain Children’s Health, said in a prepared statement:

We are entering a new era in pediatric health that will shape the next century of care for children served by Intermountain and Primary Children’s Hospital. These generous gifts from the community are helping us embrace this challenge, forge ahead, and achieve our vision to build the nation’s model health system for children without delay.

In January, Intermountain Healthcare announced a $500 million promise — half of which would come from philanthropy — to create a national model for children’s health. 

This vision has inspired financial gifts including a $50 million gift from Utah businesswoman, civic leader, and philanthropist Gail Miller and the Miller family, which was announced in January.

Additional philanthropic efforts to support the model system will be led by three civic and community business leaders: 

• Miller, owner and board chair of Larry H. Miller Group of Companies and chair of the Intermountain Healthcare Board of Trustees; 
• Business leader Steve Lund, co-founder and executive board chair of Nu Skin Enterprises; 
• Business and civic leader Crystal Maggelet, chair and CEO of FJ Management Inc.

© Provided by KUTV Salt Lake City

According to a press release, the new model health system for children will feature a blend of program, research, and capital expansion. The model will bring together specialized pediatric caregivers from multiple Intermountain facilities and Primary Children’s pediatric partners at the University of Utah Health, ultimately serving children in a 400,000 square mile area encompassing Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Alaska.

The model contains three areas of focus:

1.Strengthen Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City with:

• Fetal surgery to repair birth defects in utero
• Groundbreaking genetic research to provide customized treatments for each child
• An expanded, modernized Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
• An expanded cancer treatment center to provide children with revolutionary treatments in an ideal healing environment.

2.Address children’s emerging health needs by:

• Enhancing services for young people suffering from depression, traumatic experiences, and other mental health conditions
• Attending to environmental factors that negatively affect children’s lifelong health (racism, poverty, housing and food instability) while promoting stable, nurturing relationships
• Ensuring kids with severe chronic health conditions have an opportunity to thrive as they become adults.

3.Extend care excellence across the Intermountain West by:

• Building a fully integrated Pediatric Care Network that enhances Outreach clinics and TeleHealth, establishes an Emergency and Trauma Network, and standardizes best practices and protocols across the Intermountain Healthcare system
• Bringing the power of Primary Children’s Hospital to Utah County with a second Primary Children’s Hospital campus in Lehi, Utah.

These ambitious goals will require an estimated $500 million investment, shared equally by Intermountain Healthcare and the generous philanthropic support from the communities that Intermountain serves.