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If you hear growling coming from Riverton Hospital’s NICU these days, it’s not cause for concern; it’s probably just a caregiver demonstrating a lion’s roar or an elephant’s trumpet. Little Rori was born in March, but had lingering health issues and hasn’t been released to go home yet. Most infants in newborn intensive care units don’t stay long, but Rori has spent more than three months in Riverton’s NICU. That has given caregivers there a unique opportunity to watch her develop, and they have gone out of their way to foster that development and bond with her. Nurse coordinator Leanna Immenschuh said she tries to visit Rori daily, whether or not she is assigned to her care. On one beautiful spring day, Leanna asked if she could take Rori to the zoo. It wasn’t possible to leave the care site, so Leanna decided to bring the zoo to the hospital by cutting out and laminating pictures of animals to put up around the baby’s crib. Leanna rotates in new animals for variety, and caregivers take turns introducing Rori to the new animals and teaching her what sounds they make. AnnJanette Jenson, the Riverton NICU nurse manager, said that her staff members have essentially adopted Rori. It is not, however, the first time AnnJanette’s team has made special efforts for a patient. With 19 beds, a staff of 42 nurses, and an average daily census of 10 (and rising), Riverton’s NICU is somewhere between small and medium, but its impact on patients and families is large.
As a clinical communications manager at Intermountain Health, Jef Otte gets to talk to a lot of caregivers who are doing extraordinary, life-saving work. But it’s not that often he gets to talk to the doctor who saved his own life. In early February, Jef was in a bicycle crash that crushed his helmet and fractured his skull in three places. A runner found him and called an ambulance, and the ambulance took him to Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, Colorado. Around midnight, Jef's condition took a turn for the worse. Neurosurgeon Chih-Ta Lin, MD, was on call that night. Within the hour, he performed a procedure he’s done dozens of times – one Jef needed to survive. A few months later, he was kind enough to chat with Jef about how he became a neurosurgeon, what he remembers about that night, and why neurosurgery is really a team sport.
Congratulations to Brandon McBride, hospital administrator of Logan Regional Hospital in Logan, UT, and Eric Packer, hospital administrator of Cedar City Hospital in Cedar City, UT, for being recognized as two of Becker's Healthcare's 160 community hospital CEOs to know for 2024! 🎊 Community hospitals function to bridge the gaps in healthcare, and community hospital CEOs are charged with delivering high-quality, low-cost care to patients in the communities they serve. Though many community hospitals offer acute care first and foremost, community hospital CEOs often also grow service lines for primary care, specialized services, rehabilitation, public health services and more. Executives are tasked with cultivating positive workforce cultures, directing overarching strategy, expanding offerings and maintaining financial stability.
Workforce management has been a big challenge for the entire healthcare industry, but we have developed creative solutions to build a stronger foundation for the future. With 66,000+ caregivers across both urban and rural areas, we are focused on simplicity to rebuild jobs and transform our workforce structure. "When you think of the current workforce challenges, we are partnering with more and more schools, educational organizations to help our caregivers advance, to help bring in folks that are being trained in healthcare related fields, and also to encourage people to go into those career paths," said Rob Allen, our president and chief executive officer, during an episode of the "Becker's Healthcare Podcast." "When I look at our workforce, 66,000 people and many of them want to advance. They want an opportunity to grow, and at Intermountain, we want to help them."
As the population of the Wasatch Back in Utah increases, the Intermountain Heber Valley Specialty Clinic building has been remodeled and expanded to make room for new providers in ear, nose and throat care, sleep medicine, and neurosurgery and improve access for existing providers. This allows several specialty providers to see more patients in clinic on more days of the week and increases access to specialized medical care closer to home for the residents of Wasatch County. “We’ve tripled the size of our specialty clinic,” said Si Hutt, president of Intermountain Heber Valley Hospital, during a ribbon cutting event on Friday, June 21. “This makes care more convenient and is part of a larger strategy to improve access to specialists and services on the Wasatch Back.”
First aid isn’t just for the body – with Stress First Aid, our caregivers are learning to check on themselves and each other, and to connect with resources to help cope with stressful periods. Learn how two Intermountain Health caregivers helped their fellow caregivers during challenging times.
Kim Plaggemeyer has dedicated her entire career to clinical practice management, first as a clinic manager, then a practice administrator, and most recently as a manager of ambulatory quality under clinical excellence. She recently celebrated 23 years with the organization (which was St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, MT when she started). Here, she talks about closing care gaps, planning a good scrapbook, and why her favorite Intermountain Health value is “We do the right thing.”
Let's give a round of applause to the following Intermountain Health hospitals for being recognized as on The Lown Institute's Honor Roll list of America's Most Socially Responsible Hospitals for 2024! ❇️ Cedar City Hospital - Cedar City, UT ❇️ Intermountain Medical Center - Murray, UT ❇️ Layton Hospital - Layton, UT ❇️ LDS Hospital - Salt Lake City, UT ❇️ Logan Regional Hospital - Logan, UT ❇️ McKay-Dee Hospital - Ogden, UT ❇️ Park City Hospital - Park City, UT ❇️ Sanpete Valley Hospital - Mt Pleasant, UT ❇️ St. Mary's Regional Hospital - Grand Junction, CO ❇️ St. Vincent Regional Hospital - Billings, MT ❇️ Utah Valley Hospital - Provo, UT Out of 2,784 acute care hospitals nationwide, only 154 are recognized as “Honor Roll” hospitals for achieving the highest scores on measures of equity, value, and outcomes.
Last week, Select Health held the grand opening of their Nevada headquarters with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event also celebrated the opening of the Intermountain Health Maule Clinic exclusively for Select Health members located within the same facility. The new Select Health headquarters serves as a hub for all members to access care, explore health insurance products and services, ask questions face-to-face, and receive immediate assistance. The building also features a dedicated event space for hosting information sessions during health insurance enrollment periods for both Medicare Advantage and commercial insurance plans. "This new headquarters represents our ongoing commitment to serving the health needs of Nevadans,” said Rob Hitchcock, Select Health president and CEO. “By offering a central location for our members to access services and information, we're making it easier for them to navigate their healthcare journey."
June is National Pride Month and for the first time this year, Intermountain Health and Select Health had a cobranded booth at the Denver PrideFest this past weekend. More than 5,000 people visited the booth and learned about our affordable health coverage plans through Select Health, and gun safety by taking home Intermountain Health gun locks. Our clinicians performed more than 700 blood pressure screenings, mostly on young adults who have never had their blood pressure checked. Thank you to all our caregivers, clinicians, and LGBTQ+ Caregiver Resource Group members who volunteered their time to make our presence at Denver Pride a huge success!
