New hospitals opening doors along Wasatch Front

Wasatch Front residents have expanded hospital services available to them as of this weekend with the opening of two multimillion-dollar expansion projects at hospitals in West Jordan and Orem.

Though the economic downturn has meant less demand at many medical facilities nationwide, both projects were under way long before last fall's Wall Street meltdown, and hospital officials hope the expanded services will draw new patients from communities that continue to attract new residents.

Officials at Jordan Valley Medical Center celebrated the completion of a $52 million expansion Thursday. The 97,000-square-foot addition to what began a quarter century ago as a little sister to Salt Lake City's Holy Cross Hospital nearly doubled the facility's floor space.

It includes three new patient floors with 10 new critical-care beds, 88 new inpatient beds, 15 new beds in the emergency department, a fully automated laboratory system, a redesigned outpatient cardiology center and a Level III neonatal intensive-care unit. The hospital now houses 192 beds, up from 96 before the project began.

Bryanie Swilley, Jordan Valley CEO, told scores of people gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday he's especially proud of the expanded obstetrics department.

"We'll be taking care of moms and babies that won't need to be transferred downtown" when newborn complications arise, Swilley said.

The expanded hospital is one of several new medical facilities now under construction in the southwest quadrant of the Salt Lake Valley, where explosive growth in the past decade has outpaced the development of medical services.

Intermountain Healthcare's new Riverton Hospital is now under construction near Bangerter Highway at 12600 South. Spokesman Jess Gomez said progress is steady on the new 48-bed, four-story facility, which will sit on 63 acres and is designed to eventually grow to 88 beds. That community hospital will include a four-story Primary Children's Medical Center outpatient facility.

The Intermountain Southridge Clinic has been operating in temporary facilities on the site since 2005.

Gomez said the new hospital is on track to open sometime this fall.

Those facilities join several "insta-care" facilities that have been built in recent years by both IH and University Health Care to help meet increasing demand for medical services in South Jordan, Riverton, Herriman and Bluffdale.

And officials in Utah County will celebrate the $32.6 million expansion and renovation of Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem on Friday.

The hospital's 54,461- square-foot addition has added new third and fourth floors to the hospital, including 24 new private patient rooms, increasing the number of beds from 60 to 105. Renovations on the second floor include new critical- and intensive-care units, each with 10 beds.

"This expansion and renovation is part of our ongoing commitment to serving our community by delivering advanced, high-quality patient care," said CEO Keith Tintle.

The new facilities will allow earlier diagnosis and treatment of heart attacks, "provide new solutions to patients with chronic irregular heartbeats and inspire hope in women who have been diagnosed with cancer," Tintle said,

E-mail: carrie@desnews.com