On Dec. 31, 2023, a carbon monoxide exposure at a church in Monroe, UT sent 63 patients to the emergency department at Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital in Richfield, UT. Emergency physicians quickly determined 49 patients needed to be transported to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, and Intermountain St. George Hospital in St. George for specialized hyperbaric chamber treatment. The need for so many patient transports – late at night on New Year’s Eve – complicated efforts to find EMS crews. However, Sevier County EMS, Piute County EMS, and Gunnison Valley EMS answered the call for help when contacted. In honor of their service that went above and beyond the call of duty, the Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital trauma program awarded 22 of the first responders an Intermountain Challenge Coin during a ceremony on Monday, Feb. 12. “Sevier Valley Hospital is indebted to our local EMS agencies that assisted in this incident, showing great accountability to our communities,” said Brent Schmidt, administrator of Sevier Valley Hospital. “The challenge coin isn’t presented as just a way of saying thanks for a job well done, but a prestigious token that shows our gratitude for their efforts of going above and beyond the call of duty.”
Rattana, an advanced pharmacy technician in the Heart Failure and Transplant Clinic at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT, understands she can make a lasting impact on a patient’s life through her day-to-day work. As an advanced pharmacy technician, Rattana’s role can’t be understated. During routine appointments, which include vaccinations, workups, and an overall health check, pharmacy technicians ensure patients are taking important medications and aren’t experiencing any barriers to life-saving medications as part of their overall care. So, when Rattana found out that Dave, a heart failure patient at the clinic, had been paying for one of his important medications out-of-pocket, she sprung into action. Read more about how Rattana used her vast experience, rapport with community health providers outside of the Intermountain network, and understanding of preventative care to dramatically reduce the financial impact of Dave's life-saving medication.
Adam Espinoza, a COVID-19 survivor, spent 34 days in the hospital in the spring of 2020. With a 30% chance of survival, he beat the odds and is now showing his gratitude to the caregivers who saved his life by creating custom portraits of them. This is a beautiful tribute to the heroes who risked their own lives to help others, and a final step in Adam's healing process. In January, Adam and his wife Trish returned to Platte Valley Hospital in Brighton, CO to present Chasity Starman, an occupational therapist at Platte Valley, with her custom portrait.
At Intermountain Health, our values are core to our culture. They reflect the behavior and attitudes that are important to us, are an agreement for how we treat each other, help us make decisions on how to act, and are a promise of what people can expect from us. One of our values is, "We are leaders in clinical excellence." What does this look like from a nursing perspective? How do our nurses help Intermountain remain a leader in clinical excellence? And how do our patients benefit? Hear from Mandy Richards, RN, MSN, chief nursing executive, as she addresses these questions in a recent interview.
Following more than three years of construction and decades of planning, the second campus of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital was dedicated in a special ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday, ushering in the most significant enhancement in pediatric health care in Utah and the Intermountain West in more than a century. Philanthropist and civic and business leader, Gail Miller, a Primary Promise Executive Campaign Cabinet Co-Chair, joined patients, caregivers, and leaders from Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, Intermountain Health, and the community to cut the ribbon on the hospital campus that bears her family’s name. The Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus in Lehi opens for patient care on February 12, 2024. “It’s been nearly four years to the day that we announced the second campus of Primary Children’s Hospital, and we’ve all been anxiously awaiting the moment we open the doors to serve the children and families in the rapidly growing southern Salt Lake County and Utah County,” said Lisa Paletta, president of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, Miller Family Campus. “The day is almost here, thanks to our generous supporters, and the expertise and passions of our construction teams, caregivers, and communities.”
We are excited to celebrate Angela Luther, Chealcae Crnkovich, and Alishea Waite as the first graduates from our in-house surgical technologist training program at St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, MT! 🥳 The first class of students started the program in April 2023. This rigorous program consists of 18 weeks of online training in partnership with an outside educational provider, as well as daily hands-on skills training in the classroom and practice lab alongside the instructor and staff preceptors. Jenna Haacke, instructor of the program and St. Vincent OR nurse educator and surgical technologist, shared, "Being able to invest in our dedicated internal employees and provide them with an educational opportunity along with advancement in their healthcare careers has been very rewarding. With the shortage of surgical technologists nationwide and difficulties filling surgical technologist positions, we are able to help fill those openings with staff who are committed to patient safety and the St. Vincent Intermountain Health organization." The second group of students began in October of 2023. "With the success of the program we hope to continue to build and grow more surgical technologists in the future. These students are valuable members of our surgical team and it has been fun watching them develop their skills and thrive under the guidance of our very talented OR team," Jenna shared.
Nearly all parents need help with a new baby. In fact, 95% of parents said that they needed support after their babies were born, but couldn’t find it. To help fill this gap, families in Jefferson County, Colorado now have a new, free resource to support them through the many joys and challenges of welcoming a new baby. Family Connects, a partnership between Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) and Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, is a program that connects all new parents with a highly-trained registered nurse at no cost. Unlike the traditional post-birth experience, Family Connects nurses visit the family in their home to support everyone’s health and wellbeing in the household. “It’s great to have a program that focuses on the mother,” said Amanda McCoy, a family ambassador with the Family Connects program. “Up to delivery it’s all about you, and then as soon as the baby is born, it’s all about them and you are left reeling. Family Connects is exactly what I needed, a program that focuses on the mother as well as the baby and helps you understand what is normal to experience as a parent.”
This #BlackHistoryMonth and every day, we celebrate the rich tapestry of achievements, resilience, and contributions that Black individuals have made throughout history.
External ventricular drains (EVDs) are commonly used in Neurological Critical Care Units (NCCU) to drain cerebrospinal fluid and help take pressure off the brain. However, like many other invasive procedures, they carry an increased risk of causing infections, particularly a brain infection called ventriculitis. Even though EVD-related infections rarely happen, the mortality rate and morbidity are relatively high, putting the patient at a 30% increase in death if they get one. A physician at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT working with the neurosurgical unit asked the team what they could do to prevent these infections from happening. The question sparked conversations between Sara Johnson, an RN shared leader, Cali Wightman, an assistant nurse manager, and Danielle Hill, a nurse educator, who felt they could find a way to improve the practice to lessen brain infections from EVDs. Learn more about how the team, with the support and help of Janine Roberts, a nursing research coordinator, put together a program of recommendations to implement some of the best practices they found and created an EVD care bundle.
Congratulations to Carrie Dunford, chief pharmacy officer and vice president of clinical services at Intermountain Health, for being recognized as one of Becker's Healthcare's 75 hospital and health system chief pharmacy officers to know for 2024! 🎉 Dr. Dunford has served our organization since April 1999, when she began working as a clinical pharmacist. Since then, she has held various pharmacy leadership positions with us, becoming chief pharmacy officer in November 2021 and assuming the additional role of vice president of clinical services in May 2023. One of her main priorities is providing our patients with high-quality care for affordable prices.
