An obstetrician and gynecologist at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, Terri Kurtz, MD, spent time with pregnant patients who were being treated for substance disorders during her residency. “I just have a soft spot for this population,” Terri said. “They’re really socially complex patients, often suffering from trauma, unsheltered or have been incarcerated. I was drawn to this work.” Following her residency, Kurtz went on to be board certified in addiction medicine. When Intermountain Health applied and was awarded a Utah-funded grant to treat expectant mothers with substance use disorders, she was a natural fit to lead the work. The program is called Peripartum Addiction Treatment and Healing, or PATH, which launched in March 2024 to patients treated in Weber County, Utah. Drug-related deaths are the most common cause of death in the pregnant and postpartum population in Utah. PATH offers a collaborative approach to change the trajectory for pregnant mothers with substance use disorders. A team of Intermountain caregivers work together to treat these patients—caregivers from neonatology, psychiatry, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology, and community health. The community health team also established relationships outside Intermountain so patients could receive support from peer support specialists and social workers through a program called Empowered at Roseman University of Health Sciences.
During one of the hottest summers in St. George, Utah, the caregivers at the new Hurricane Emergency Room faced an unexpected challenge. The HVAC system went out. Five words you never want to hear when working in the triple-digit desert heat. As temperatures rose, our caregivers quickly formed a strategic response to ensure the safety and comfort of our patients. With swift coordination, ED, lab, imaging, and emergency response teams mobilized to implement immediate solutions. Portable cooling units were brought in, fans were strategically placed, and hydration stations were set up throughout the facility to help keep everyone cool and hydrated. To further support the staff, cooling vests were distributed, providing an extra measure of safety and relief. Additionally, labs were moved around to promote better airflow and optimize the cooling measures in place. After hearing of the problem, facilities teams immediately jumped to action to get the system back up and running. These crews worked tirelessly throughout the night to fix the air conditioning system. Their hard work and dedication ensured that the HVAC system was restored in less than a day, allowing us to avoid taking any major measures or disrupting patient care. "Our caregivers are truly remarkable," Braydon Bird, the ED manager working through the incident, shared. "Their ability to adapt and respond to such a challenging situation is a testament to their commitment to our patients and each other.”
We are celebrating a major advancement in our sustainability efforts with the opening of the Castle Solar Farm in Huntington, Utah, which will provide power for several of our hospitals, clinics, and other facilities and result in a cost savings of more than $500,000 annually. The 40-megawatt solar farm, which we have contracted to provide 20 megawatts, is located 140 miles southeast of Salt Lake City and will produce enough electricity to offset the total annual use of 17 Intermountain Health facilities, including 9 hospitals. The project will supply us with renewable electricity for the next 20 years. “This is one of the biggest sustainability investments we’ve ever made, and we will be seeing benefits for decades to come,” said Eric Liston, vice president of clinical services for Intermountain. “By making a cleaner environment in the communities that we serve, Intermountain is helping our patients live the healthiest lives possible.”
Congratulations to the following Intermountain Health hospitals for being recognized on Becker's Healthcare's “great community hospitals” list for 2024! - Cedar City Hospital - Cedar City, Utah - Park City Hospital - Park City, Utah - Sevier Valley Hospital - Richfield, Utah The community hospitals honored in this list are focused on bringing clinical and academic excellence, personalized and holistic care, and overall improved health to their communities. The Becker's editorial team selected hospitals for inclusion based on nominations and considered several outside rankings and ratings organizations, including U.S. News & World Report, Healthgrades, CMS, The Leapfrog Group, the National Rural Health Association and The Chartis Center for Rural Health.
You may think you know the ins and outs of a care site — until you see it completely transformed at night. One thing stands out when speaking to night shift caregivers at Intermountain Health: making sure our patients receive the best care possible is a 24/7 operation. While the atmosphere may look a little different, the bonds between caregivers and their dedication to our patients remain strong. #TogetherForTheHealthiestLives
Sometimes a listening ear is enough to make someone’s day. That was the case recently at American Fork Hospital in American Fork, Utah, where two members of the supply chain field logistics team helped a distraught patient recover a lost watch. Inventory coordinators Brad White and Jan Spencer were approached after a patient on the Mother Baby unit reported losing a watch. The brand-new Apple Watch was a gift from her husband, and it had gotten bundled up in the bed linens that had been removed earlier that day. In this case, Jan received a Vocera call from Nicole Maddox, a float pool nurse working in Mother Baby that day. It is a common occurrence, Brad said — an item is misplaced, and a patient or caregiver asks the inventory team to go through the day’s linen to find it. Phones are among the most commonly lost items, along with cardiology sensors and other medical equipment that can easily get wrapped up in a bundle of sheets. The problem with finding such an item is the sheer volume of the dirty linen — often thousands of pounds’ worth at each care site — can make this a needle-in-a-haystack proposition. Learn more about how Brad, Jan, and Nicole took on what started as an impossible task of going through all the linens that ended up as a listening project in the article below.
Congratulations to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah for being recognized on Becker's Healthcare's "Great hospitals in America" list for 2024! 🎉 The hospitals on this list are widely recognized for their clinical excellence, commitment to patient safety, innovative initiatives, research efforts, education and high levels of patient satisfaction. Esteemed ranking and award organizations, including U.S. News & World Report, Healthgrades, CMS and The Leapfrog Group, have acknowledged these hospitals for their leadership in the healthcare industry and their outstanding performance across various specialties.
Isaac Johnson had never had what he considers a “real” job before signing on for an internship at Logan Regional Hospital in Logan, Utah this summer. Growing up in an athletic family, his responsibility from an early age was to get better and better at basketball and to earn a college scholarship. Not long after his magical run ended with a loss to No. 1 seed Purdue and national player of the year Zach Edey, Isaac was at Chipotle in Logan when he bumped into his dentist, who happened to be eating with Logan Regional Hospital president Brandon McBride. Brandon said that after meeting with Isaac to discuss his career goals, he arranged for Isaac to intern with the administrative team at Logan Regional Hospital. “He’s been a great addition to our admin council, and I hope he’s learning a lot from his time with us,” Brandon said. “Isaac is very bright, engaged and has an incredible future ahead of him as a healthcare leader. I’m excited to watch him grow personally and professionally and proud to have the opportunity to support his development at this stage of his learning.” Isaac is considering owning and managing assisted living facilities and possibly running a “health shopping mall” offering various care options. But all of that will have to wait until he follows through on his first job and pursues a career as a professional basketball player.
When Margaret “Beth” Sweeney, DO, was a little girl, she already knew what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to be an actor. Her mother was an opera singer, and her father was a writer. She grew up in Manhattan, New York, home to Broadway. Surrounded by the arts, her performance course was arguably set in stone. But Dr. Sweeney’s acting career turned out to be the dress rehearsal for the rest of her life. Despite studying at multiple schools and moving to California, her professional work transitioned multiple times, from acting to personal training to competitive bodybuilding to massage therapy before becoming a primary care physician at age 50. Dr. Sweeney currently serves patients at the Henderson Senior Primary Clinic in southern Nevada. Although her journey into healthcare came later compared to others, she took the lessons she learned along the way to find fulfillment. As Dr. Sweeney's story shows, careers rarely follow a straight line, and are often full of surprises. The five elements of modern career planning are: know yourself, seek feedback, understand your environment, create a vision, and make a plan.
Becker's Healthcare recently asked C-suite executives from hospitals and health systems across the U.S. to share the biggest misconception about healthcare this year. Hear from our very own JP Valin, MD, chief clinical officer, on his thoughts on the misconception around the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare as well as what other healthcare executives from across the country had to say in the Becker's story below.
