Intermountain Medical Center is the flagship hospital for Intermountain Healthcare. With 504 beds, it is the largest hospital in Utah and serves residents from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and beyond. Our hospital campus is located in the heart of the Salt Lake metro area, serving patients from throughout the western United States.
Intermountain Medical Center opened on October 29, 2007 and was named Utah’s best hospital by U.S. News and World Report in 2013. What helped us create such an excellent hospital so quickly? Here’s a review.
Planning for the hospital began in 1997 to solve two challenges: Intermountain Healthcare’s Cottonwood Hospital needed to be rebuilt, and LDS Hospital, which was Intermountain’s flagship hospital, was landlocked and no longer able to expand. Intermountain purchased 100 acres of land at 5300 South State Street in Murray between 1999 and 2002. Advantages of the site: It’s right in the center of the Salt Lake Valley and close to numerous transportation options, including I-15, I-215, a Trax/Frontrunner station, and State Street.
Over 1,000 employees and physicians served on over 100 different planning and design teams from 2000 to 2003. The hospital’s groundbreaking was held on September 22, 2003, and Intermountain Medical Center opened 49 months later on October 29, 2007.
Planning and construction of the hospital took 10 years
It cost $572 million
The finished hospital encompasses 1.7 million square feet
What Makes Us Unique
Typical high-end hospitals across the country were designed as “big boxes,” packed with technology and resources. “I remember looking at a schematic our architects had drawn up — it was a drawing of a big, square building — and I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t going to work,’” says Gary Pehrson, former CEO of Intermountain Healthcare’s Central Region, who led the hospital’s planning team.
“We knew what we wanted. We wanted centers of excellence. We wanted to offer convenience and comfort to our patients and staff, and we wanted the ability to grow wisely into the future. And we wanted, as often as we could, to bring the services and care to our patients.”
“It was almost like an epiphany,” he says. “We knew we could make a better hospital. We could make it more convenient, more friendly, more comforting. And I think that’s just what we did.”
We’re not one big hospital; we’re five smaller hospitals
Intermountain Medical Center contains five interconnected centers of excellence, including women’s/newborn care, heart/lung care, emergency/trauma care, outpatient care, and cancer care.
We have an incredible healing environment
Natural elements — gardens, fountains, a labyrinth, spectacular views of the mountains, walking paths, organic building materials — and family alcoves, meditation rooms, and a chapel are specifically designed to enhance the healing process.
We use the latest technology
We’re involved in over 400 clinical research projects, which expand the capabilities of medical science and support a perpetual cycle of improvement, efficiency, and quality.
Intermountain Medical Center houses six ICUs and an active transplant program, including a world-renowned mechanical/artificial heart program.
We’re patient centered
Processes and facilities are designed to enhance privacy, family involvement, overnight family stays, and patient access to all of the components that enhance healing, including clinical, research, emotional, informational, nutritional, and financial services.
