Shriners Salt Lake City hospital to cut work force amid rising health care costs

Without the local Shriners, she said the family would likely have to travel back and forth to Nebraska for care.

"We'd be in a really bad financial state because insurance only covers so much. It is something that has saved our family a lot of stress and a lot of worry over the years," she said.

Nathan is the middle of three children. Since he showed a tremendous will to live as a baby, doctors have never even mentioned the state of his future. They haven't needed to.

"He's comfortable here," Glad said.

And while the hospital may undergo some minor changes in the near future, Babcock said he plans on it "being here a lot longer … to help the kids who really need it."

"We've got tens of thousands of patients who have come through these doors and have left much better because of it," he said. "We're proud of that."

Part of enhancing efficiencies at the hospital, Babcock said, is to accommodate the growing number of children needing services and the rising costs of health care.

"This is mission driven. Our focus is taking care of kids, and we want to do that well into the future," he said.

All 22 Shriners Hospitals across the country are tasked with being more efficient, doing business in a new way and to help more people.

E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com

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