Patients, Donors, and Caregivers Dedicate New Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital

After decades of planning and more than three years of construction, the second campus of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital was dedicated in a special ribbon-cutting ceremony last week, ushering in the most significant enhancement in pediatric health care in the Intermountain West in more than a century.

The Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus is a critical element of Primary Promise, Intermountain’s multi-faceted and comprehensive vision to build the nation’s model health system for children.

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.

“The Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus honors the Miller family’s support and vision for children’s health and wellness in the Intermountain West and symbolizes the most significant boost in children’s healthcare delivery since Primary Children’s Hospital opened 102 years ago,” said Katy Welkie, chief executive officer of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital and vice president of Intermountain Children’s Health. “As we dedicate this special place of healing, we extend our gratitude to the Miller family and many other families who gave so generously to make it possible.”

The new Miller Family Campus, located at 2250 N. Miller Campus Drive in Lehi, is a full-service children’s hospital providing nearly all the same specialty pediatric services that patients receive at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

It includes an Outpatient Center, trauma center, medical office building, and a five-story, 66-bed, 486,000-square-foot Primary Children’s Hospital.

Medical staff will be fully integrated with the pediatric specialists at University of Utah Health, who will continue to work collaboratively with Primary Children’s caregivers to provide the highest level of pediatric care to patients at the new campus.

“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.”

“Together, everyone involved in the new campus has given life to our vision for a beautiful, healing space for children, and we are proud to celebrate this historical moment with you,” she added.

The Miller Family Campus is one part of Intermountain Health’s Primary Promise to build the nation’s model health system for children. This transformative, multi-faceted plan requires a minimum investment of $600 million in children’s health, shared by Intermountain Health and community philanthropic support.

The Primary Promise campaign was announced in January 2020 alongside a $50 million gift from the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, the largest single investment in Miller family history.

“As Primary Children’s is guided by its philosophy, ‘The Child First and Always,’ our family is guided by the principle to ‘go about doing good until there is too much good in the world,’” Miller said. “Our children have been helped by Primary Children’s in our hour of need, just like so many families before and after us.”

“We are happy to support the good that Primary Children’s can do for children and families with this second location, and the Primary Promise vision to make the Intermountain West the home of the nation’s healthiest pediatric population,” she added.

The Miller family’s generous support of Primary Promise inspired unprecedented giving from individuals and organizations from the many communities served within Utah and beyond, in combination with investments by Intermountain Health.

“Gail is a shining example of the impact of giving back, and what’s possible for our children now and in generations to come,” said businessman and philanthropist Todd Pedersen, whose family gave a $35 million gift to the Miller Family Campus.

“I’m grateful to her and the many others here today who have followed in her footsteps and given generously to this hospital and Primary Promise,” Pedersen added. “Just think of what the future may hold when even more of us catch the vision and come together around this compelling cause of helping kids. We are close to $600 million, and my hope for everyone throughout this region is that they will be a part of history through this incredible project. Now is the time.”

Nearly 1,000 patients, caregivers, and Primary Promise supporters joined the Pedersen and Miller families at the special dedication ceremony, sharing in the awe and excitement expressed by Rob Allen, president and chief executive officer of Intermountain Health.

“Today, more than ever, I feel as if we’re standing on the shoulders of giants,” Allen said. “Community support for the model health system for children is building. The power of philanthropy is what’s made Primary Children’s the beacon it has become – and will continue to fuel endless possibilities for children’s health.”

Thirteen-year-old Nellie Mainor shared Allen’s wish for future patients.

She spent years of her young life at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, receiving treatment for kidney failure caused by Dense Deposit Disease.

Nellie received daily dialysis treatments at home and in the hospital, and biweekly infusions for a related blood disorder, until she received a kidney transplant in 2021.

“Primary Children’s Hospital is my home-away-from-home, and I tell my nurses and doctors that they’re like my second family. I love them all,” Nellie said. “I’m so happy that we now have a second Primary Children’s Hospital here in Lehi, where I know kids will get the same great care and love from the doctors and nurses who help them, as I did at the Salt Lake Campus.”

Since she was hospitalized as a 6-year-old, Nellie has helped her fellow patients find ease in their hospital visits, conducting toy drives and other fundraisers.

In 2020, Nellie had the chance to meet Miller when the Miller family’s philanthropic gift was announced. For the occasion, Nellie made a beaded necklace for Miller as a gesture of thanks.

At the Miller Family Campus dedication, Nellie and Miller reunited to cut the ribbon on the new campus together.

As for the necklace: Miller has worn it often over the past four years and keeps it in her office as a remembrance. Before the dedication ceremony, she placed the treasure into a special time capsule on the hospital grounds.

To learn how you can support Primary Promise, visit PrimaryPromise.org or contact foundation@imail.org.

For more information about the new Miller Family Campus in Lehi, visit primarychildrens.org/lehi.

Hospital Campus Facts:

The Building (constructed by Jacobsen Construction):

• Weight: 69 million pounds.
• 300+ professional builders on site every day during peak construction periods.
• 23,000 cubic yards of concrete used – enough to build a sidewalk 117 miles long, from Lehi to Ogden and back.
• 2 million feet of blue data cabling installed – about 378 miles worth, or about the distance between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.
• 11,000 gallons of paint used.

What’s in the Hospital:

• Inpatient behavioral health unit with comprehensive behavioral health services.
• The state’s first walk-in pediatric behavioral health crisis center.
• 19-bay emergency department and trauma services, including in-room x-rays.
• Neonatal intensive care (NICU) surgical services.
• Pediatric intensive care (ICU) services.
• Acute medical and surgical care services
• Five operating suites.
• Advanced imaging.
• Pediatric subspecialties and diagnostics.

What’s at the Outpatient Center:

• Three behavioral health programs, including an outpatient clinic, intensive outpatient. services, and a partial-hospitalization program for higher-acuity patients not needing inpatient care.
• Diagnostic services and technology, including pulmonary function tests, neurological. electroencephalogram, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram services for the heart.
• The Safe and Healthy Families program, for patients healing from physical or sexual abuse.
• Full outpatient rehabilitation services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, feeding therapy, and cardiac rehabilitation.
• An oncology and infusion center with a rooftop patio.

MEDIA NOTE: Video and photos 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 33 hospitals, 385 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.