Bond issue sought for Davis hospital

FARMINGTON — A procedural public hearing Tuesday could pave the way for Intermountain Healthcare to borrow up to $22 million to build a new hospital in Davis County.

That dollar amount would be part of a $200 million to $300 million tax-exempt health-care revenue bond issue the nonprofit health system is working toward for the construction of hospitals and other facilities around Utah.

If the bonds are sold, Intermountain could spend up to $22 million in Layton simply because a public hearing was held in Davis County.

Because Intermountain isn't a public entity, it needs a taxing entity to issue the bonds, and it has chosen Riverton, where it is building a hospital, to be its issuer, said Dustin Matusmori, a vice president at George K. Baum, Intermountain's financial adviser.

Neither Riverton nor Davis County would be on the hook for the bonds, Matsumori said, and no one from the public commented on the bond issue, which is expected to go before the Riverton City Council on Oct. 20.

Bonds are expected to help build a 90,000-square-foot primary- and specialty-care clinic near 900 East and 400 South in Salt Lake City, an expansion of facilities at Primary Children's Medical Center and a 50-bed hospital on 70 acres in Layton.

— Joseph M. Dougherty