Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Center Places Final Beam

With a “topping off ceremony” to place the final beam, Intermountain Children’s Health new, family-centered Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Center took another important step to bring critically needed mental health services one step closer to children and teens in crisis.

Decorated with signatures and hopeful messages from Intermountain caregivers, families, and community members, the new center’s final steel beam was lifted by crane and placed atop its structural framework as a gathering of dignitaries cheered.

Construction began on the $96 million center sooner than anticipated, thanks to $25 million in funding from the state of Utah, and generous community support of Primary Promise, Intermountain’s historic campaign to build the nation’s model health system for children.

“Today, we’re here to commemorate a milestone, much bigger than all of us – and made possible by all of us,” said Amanda Choudhary, senior director of pediatric behavioral health at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.

The Intermountain region, like the nation, is experiencing a pediatric mental health crisis. In the United States, one in five 3-to-17-year-olds face a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disorder.

Suicide remains a leading cause of death for Utah youth. Last year, 43 percent of Utah youth who felt sad, hopeless, or suicidal reported that they did not talk to anyone about it.

“Our children deserve better, and additional help is on the way,” said Dr. Lisa Giles, University of Utah Health and medical director of pediatric behavioral health at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.

The new Intermountain Primary Children’s Behavioral Health Center will expand access to critically needed behavioral health services for young children and teens.

It will open in 2025 on the current Intermountain Primary Children’s Wasatch Canyons Behavioral Health Campus in Taylorsville. The aging infrastructure is no longer ideal for accommodating community needs.

“We are honored to be Intermountain Health’s trusted building partner for this unique facility — one that is focused on caring for the behavioral health and wellbeing of our communities’ young people,” said Gary Ellis, president and CEO of Jacobsen Construction. “As we work together to bring this campus to life, we are creating a world-class health care resource that Utah families can rely on for many years to come.”

The new, 90,000-square-foot Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Center will include a nearly 50 percent increase in inpatient beds. It also will feature:

• A walk-in-crisis center
• The state’s first dedicated behavioral health inpatient unit to provide mental health crisis care tailored for youth with autism and neuro-diverse needs
• Family-centered behavioral healthcare, including the ability for parents to stay overnight
• Outpatient spaces designed for more intensive outpatient treatment, day treatment, and group therapy programs.

The new Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Center will also house the Stabilization and Mobile Response program team, which responds to homes in moments of need to help stabilize children in crisis (1-833-SAFE-FAM).

Additionally, it will house Intermountain Primary Children’s statewide Assessment, Referral, Consultation Service (ARCS) free service line at 801-313-7711, which helps connect young children and teens to services close to their communities.

For children and adults who are struggling, or who worry that someone they love is in crisis, additional resources are available to help now, including free support through Utah Crisis Line at 988.

Expanding access to pediatric behavioral health services is part of Intermountain Health’s Primary Promise to build the nation’s model health system for children. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in the future of our children’s health has attracted the minimum goal of $600 million in a powerful partnership between philanthropic members of the community and Intermountain Health.

Philanthropic support is still needed to help complete the new facility, help more children grow up stronger, and even save lives. To learn more or to make a gift, visit intermountainhealthcare.org/foundation/primary-promise.

More information about pediatric behavioral health services is available at primarychildrens.org/behavioralhealth.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Images and video available upon request.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.