Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit healthcare system and is the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West of the United States. Intermountain Healthcare provides hospital and other medical services in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada and also offers integrated managed care under the insurance brand "SelectHealth." Intermountain Healthcare is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has some 40,000 employees.[2][3]
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| Type | Private (Not-for-profit) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Healthcare |
| Predecessor | The Health Services Corporation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| Founded | Salt Lake City, Utah, US (September 24, 1970) |
| Founder | Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah , United States |
Area served | Utah, Idaho, and Nevada United States |
Key people | A. Marc Harrison, MD[1] (President / CEO) Gail Miller (businesswoman), (Chairman) |
| Website | intermountainhealthcare.org |
History
Intermountain Healthcare was founded on April 1, 1975 after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated fifteen hospitals as a system to the intermountain community.[4][5]
In 1982, Intermountain Healthcare began providing non-hospital services such as clinics and home healthcare.[6]
In 2006, Intermountain renamed its health insurance plan "SelectHealth" and formalized the separate management of the insurance side of the organization.[7]
In 2009, Intermountain Healthcare was identified as a healthcare model by President Barack Obama, "We have long known that some places, like the Intermountain Healthcare in Utah. . ., offer high-quality care at cost below average."[8] According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Utah's per capita spending on healthcare is 44 percent below the national average.[8]
Intermountain Healthcare announced that beginning in 2011 it would offer health insurance benefits for its employees' domestic partners.[9]
Intermountain Healthcare operates 24 hospitals in Utah and Idaho.[7] Intermountain also operates 225 clinics, and urgent care facilities in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, 160 of which are run by physicians as part of the Intermountain Medical Group.[5] In total, Intermountain Healthcare employs about 2,800 physicians and advanced practice providers. Intermountain also provides insurance to nearly one million people in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. It is also the largest private employer in Utah.[10]
In response to drug shortages and pricing scandals, Intermountain Healthcare and other hospitals formed a generic drug manufacturer, Civica Rx, in 2018 to produce generic drugs that are in short supply or highly priced.[11][12][13][14][15]
In October 2020, Intermountain Healthcare and Sanford Health signed an intent to merge.[16] The merger would make Sanford Health a subsidiary of Intermountain Healthcare with the resulting system consisting of 70 hospitals with 89,000 employees.[17] In early December, the merger was postponed indefinitely after the C.E.O. of Sanford Health, Kelby Krabbenhoft was abruptly replaced by Bill Gassen after Krabbenhoft voiced anti-mask sentiments.[18][19]
Hospitals
Intermountain Healthcare operates 24 hospitals in Utah and Idaho,[20] with 2,778 licensed beds, as listed in the table below:
Life Flight

Life Flight originally began service in 1972 with just fixed-winged aircraft, but on July 6, 1978, it performed its first patient transport by helicopter, becoming the seventh helicopter (rotor wing) air medical service in the United States.[21]
Intermountain currently operates one Agusta A109K2 helicopter and five Agusta AW109 SP Grand helicopters. The helicopters are based at McKay-Dee Hospital Center in Ogden, Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Uinta Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt and St. George Regional Hospital in St. George. Life Flight also operates two Beechcraft B200 King Air twin-turboprop aircraft and one Cessna CJ 4 Jet. One King Air and the CJ4 are based at Life Flight's operations center at the Salt Lake City International Airport, and the third is based at St. George Regional Airport.[22] The helicopters generally service an area 150 mile around their base, but can travel 1,000 miles without refueling. In addition to servicing Utah, Life Flight transports patients from Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and other locations in the Western United States.[23]
Life Flight and its staff are Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) certified. All of Life Flight's helicopters routinely use night vision goggles (NVG) and its Agusta Grands can operate in high-altitude situations. Life Flight can provide a medical control physician 24/7 so its staff does not have to rely solely on standing orders or protocols, as do many other similar air medical services. Life Flight has six teams:[24]
- Adult Team
- Pediatric Team - Life Flight is the only air ambulance service with paramedics and nurses specially trained to care for infants and children (ages 0–21) that operates in the Intermountain West.[25]
- Neonatal Team - Life Flight performs about 1,200 neonatal transports each year
- Respiratory Team
- LVAD Team - Assisting those patients in need of a ventricular assist device
- Hoist / Search & Rescue Team - Life Flight has performed hoist rescues since 2001; in fact, it is the first and only civilian air ambulance service in the United States that conducts hoist rescues[25] and the only such service in the intermountian region.
References
- Harrison, Marc. "CEO and President". IntermountainHealthcare.org. Intermountain Healthcare. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- "Fast Facts | About Us | Intermountain Healthcare". intermountainhealthcare.org. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- "Company Overview & Recognition". intermountainhealthcare.org. Intermountain Healthcare. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
- "50 great health systems to know | 2015". Becker's Hospital Review. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- "Fast Facts About Intermountain Healthcare". Intermountain Healthcare. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
- Holly, Robert (April 1, 2019). "Intermountain Healthcare Bets Big on Home-Based Mentality". Home Health Care News. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- Fantin, Linda (April 4, 2006). "IHC Health Plans changing name". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City: MediaNews Group. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- Daley, John (September 10, 2009). "Obama singles out Intermountain Healthcare as model system". ksl.com. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
- Giauque, Marc (October 21, 2010). "Intermountain Healthcare offers benefits to domestic partners". ksl.com. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- "Jobs & Careers". intermountainhealthcare.org. Intermountain Healthcare. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
- Kodjak, Alison (September 6, 2018). "Hospitals Prepare To Launch Their Own Drug Company To Fight High Prices And Shortages". NPR. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- Tirell, Meg (September 6, 2018). "Hospitals band together to make drugs to combat shortages and high prices". CNBC. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- Kincaid, Ellie (September 6, 2018). "That Nonprofit Generic Firm Has A Name, $100 Million, And A CEO Who Will Work For Free". Forbes. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- Johnson, Carolyn (September 6, 2018). "Hospitals are fed up with drug companies, so they're starting their own". Washington Post.
- Carlson, Joe (September 5, 2018). "Mayo Clinic, other hospitals launching generic drug maker Civica Rx". Star Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- "Intermountain Healthcare, Sanford Health intend to merge". Sanford Health News. October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- Ellison, Ayla (October 26, 2020). "Intermountain, Sanford to merge into 70-hospital system". www.beckershospitalreview.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- Gamble, Molly (December 5, 2020). "Sanford, Intermountain halt merger talks". www.beckershospitalreview.com. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- "Sanford Health suspends merger talks with Intermountain". ABC News. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- "About Intermountain Healthcare". intermountainhealthcare.org. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
- "Intermountain Life Flight - Adult and Children's Critical Care Specialists". HeliMx. October 1, 2012. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- "Life Flight > About Life Flight > Aircraft". Intermountain Healthcare. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- "Life Flight > About Life Flight > Bases". Intermountain Healthcare. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- "Life Flight > About Life Flight > Teams". Intermountain Healthcare. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- "Intermountain Life Flight goes live with GrandNew". Helihub. July 3, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
