|
or many residents, living in Utah means having a healthy lifestyle. In fact, Utah ranks as the fourth healthiest state in the |
nation by the United Health Foundation (2005). The study found that Utah leads the nation in low rates of smoking and deaths caused by cancer.
Utah is also one of the most affordable states in the U.S. in terms of health care, however you define ‘affordability’ and even when you adjust for the healthier Utah lifestyle and younger population. For example:
- Health expenditures. Utah has the lowest total health care cost per capita of any state in the U.S. – about 27% below the national average. (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, 2003.)
- Health insurance premiums. Average premium per covered individual in Utah was the 7th-lowest in the nation in 2004. (Source: Families USA/Lewin study, 2004, as reported.)
Hospitals
Utah has 53 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).
University Health Care is the Intermountain West’s only academic health-care system, combining excellence in patient care, medical research, and teaching to provide pioneering medicine in a caring and personal setting. University Hospital is consistently ranked among US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals. In addition, the University has neighborhood health centers located across the Wasatch Front, providing residents with medical care close to home. University Health Care’s academic partners at the University of Utah School of Medicine and Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Health comprise the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, internationally regarded for its teaching institutions and research in genetics, cancer, medical drugs, and numerous other areas of medicine.
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah is one of University Health Care’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 new treatments—focusing on the genetics of cancer. The first floor houses the Huntsman Cancer Learning Center, where patients, family members, and the general public go for the most current information about cancer care, prevention, and treatments—free of charge. HCI’s Family Cancer Assessment Clinic advises people about their individual risk, genetic testing options, and personalized screening recommendations. Adjacent to the institute building is the 50-bed Huntsman Cancer Hospital—the only cancer-specialty hospital in the Intermountain West.
|
Intermountain Healthcare is a locally owned system of non-profit hospitals and clinics that provides medical care to residents of Utah and Southern Idaho. The Salt Lake City based medical system has been ranked one of the nation’s top healthcare delivery systems for the past seven years. Intermountain Healthcare operates clinics, urgent care facilities, and a hospice program. Intermountain also runs 20 Utah hospitals including Primary Children’s Medical Center, LDS Hospital, McKay Dee Hospital, Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, and Dixie Regional Medical Center. In 2005, Intermountain provided more than $85 million worth of charitable care during visits with 182,000 patients who were unable to pay. The healthcare company is currently building the state-of-the-art Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, in the center of the Salt Lake Valley. The campus will include five specialty hospitals as well as a medical office building. Construction on the new campus will be completed in 2007.
Intermountain Healthcare’s Primary Children’s Medical Center has been recognized 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.
Over 125 years ago, The Sisters of the Holy Cross founded a unique hospital in Salt Lake City. Administered by the sisters until 1994, and built on a legacy of dedication and care, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center remains one of the most trusted and respected medical facilities in Utah. Conveniently located between the city center and the University of Utah, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center is a world-class clinical facility offering a wide range of patient-centered services.
Intermountain Shriners Hospital for Children provides specialty orthopedic care and rehabilitation to children under 18 years of age with diseases and disorders of the bones, muscles, and joints. All care provided at Shriners Hospital is at 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 inpatient beds, an in-house prosthetics and orthotics laboratory, the region’s only motion analysis laboratory, a 3,000-square-foot indoor play and therapy treatment area, and four apartments for parents and other family members.
The Caring Foundation for Children, founded by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, has provided free health or dental benefits to more than 10,000 Utah and Idaho children who could not afford coverage otherwise.
All Utah hospitals continue to cut their costs and increase their efficiency—while receiving national recognition. 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. |
