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Health
Care
For many residents, living in Utah means having a healthy lifestyle. In fact, Utah ranks as the third healthiest state in the nation by the
United Health Foundation (November 2003). The study found that
Utah leads the nation in low rates of smoking, cancer, and heart disease.
The Utah Department of Health confirms that Utahns enjoy lower rates in many health problems--from infant mortality to total mortality--
when compared to national rates. Utah’s traditionally low infant mortality rate dropped further in 2001 to one of the lowest rates ever seen in the nation (4.8 per 1,000 live births). In November 2000, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that Utah had the lowest smoking rate in the nation, which continues through today.
Hospitals
Utah has 51 hospitals that offer quality care. Major medical facilities provide short-term acute and intensive care, alcohol and chemical dependent and psychiatric care, long-term care, and rehabilitation and specialty centers (such as burn and hospice facilities).
The University of Utah's School of Medicine and the University Hospital make up the core of the state's public medical complex. The University of
Utah Health Sciences Center (UUHSC) conducts leading edge research and care in genetics, cancer treatment, diagnostic imaging, cardiac care, obstetrics and gynecology, newborn intensive care, and burn treatment.
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) is a department of the University of Utah and one of UUHSC’s Centers of Excellence. The only
National Cancer
Institute- designated cancer center in the Intermountain West, HCI is also part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. With three floors of laboratories, HCI researchers investigate the causes of cancer and work to develop new treatments—focusing their research primarily on the genetics of cancer. HCI’s outpatient care is located on the second floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows and a view of the foothills form the backdrop to the chemotherapy infusion suite. The first floor houses the Huntsman Cancer Learning Center, where patients, family members, and the general public can go to get the most current information on cancer, its prevention, and its treatments. The Learning Center is open to the public and free of charge, with access to over 3,000 cancer-related books, newsletters, videos, CD’s, and Internet access. Directly adjacent to the Institute is Huntsman Cancer Hospital, which
opened in 2004. With state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment equipment as well as therapy and clinical research areas, it will be the only cancer-specialty hospital in the Intermountain West.
Intermountain Health Care (IHC) is a charitable, community-owned, nonprofit health care organization based in Salt Lake City serving the health needs of Utah and Idaho residents. The IHC system includes health insurance plans, 21 hospitals, clinics, and affiliated physicians. In 2003, in more than 149,000 visits, IHC hospitals and clinics directly provided nearly $51 million in charitable assistance. A central part of IHC's mission is to provide quality medical care to persons with a medical need, regardless of ability to pay.
IHC was awarded as the Top Integrated Health Care System in 2004,for the third consecutive year by
Verispan, a market research company. IHC was also named as one of the nation's 100 most wired health systems in an annual study published in the
American Hospital Association's
Hospitals & Health Networks magazine.
IHC is planning to build a new flagship hospital, the Intermountain Medical Center, at a cost of approximately $362 million. The facility will be a health care campus built on 100 acres in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley near 5300 South and State Street in Murray. Construction on the new campus will be completed in 2006.
Primary Children’s Medical Center has been singled out as one of the top 10 children's hospitals in the nation. It is the only American College of Surgeons verified Level 1 Trauma Center for Children in its five-state service area (Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and Montana). Specialties include heart, bone marrow, and liver transplants; pediatric and newborn intensive care; cardiovascular surgery; neurosurgery; and hematology/oncology. Critically ill children can be airlifted from throughout the Intermountain region for treatment at the hospital.
Regence BlueCross BlueShield is the state’s largest health insurer handling the insurance needs of an estimated 795,000 Utahns including Medicare beneficiaries. In 1992 Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah founded
The Caring Foundation for Children which is today one of the state’s leading children’s charities and has provided free health or dental benefits to more than 9,000 Utah children who could not afford coverage otherwise.
The Intermountain Shriners Hospital for Children
provides specialty orthopaedic care and rehabilitation to children with diseases and disorders of the bones, muscles, and joints. All care is free to children under 18 years old. There is no cost to patient or family. Since 1925, the Intermountain facility has cared for over 25,000 patients from Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, and Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. The hospital features 40 beds, an in-house prosthetics and orthotics lab, the regions only motion analysis laboratory, a 3,000-square-foot indoor play and therapy treatment area, and four apartments for parents and other family members.
All Utah hospitals have taken voluntary measures to cut their costs and increase their efficiency. Utah's health care industry is working to eliminate excess capacity, to adopt managed care and to implement patient care systems that emphasize prevention. Providing the highest quality care at the lowest possible cost is the desired result.
(updated
Oct. 2004) |
