Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital (PCH) (formerly Primary Children's Medical Center) is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

located in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, Utah. The hospital has 289 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the

University of Utah School of Medicine The University of Utah School of Medicine is located on the upper campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1905 and is currently the only MD-granting medical school in the state of Utah. History The school began ...

. The hospital is a member of

Intermountain Healthcare Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit healthcare system and is the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West of the United States. Intermountain Healthcare provides ambulatory and acute health services, along with other medica ...

(IHC) and is the only children's hospital in the network. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout the Salt Lake City and outer region. PCH also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. PCH is a ACS verified Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center and is the largest providers of pediatric health services in the state. The hospital serves the states of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

, yielding an enormous geographic catchment area of approximately 400,000 square miles. The hospital is one of the only pediatric hospitals in the region.

History

PCH had its beginnings in the efforts of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) to provide adequate medical care to citizens of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

. An LDS organization and building, named "

Deseret Hospital Deseret may refer to: Places * Deseret, Utah, an unincorporated community ** Fort Deseret * Deseret Ranches, Florida, US * State of Deseret, a provisional US state, 1849-1851 Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Deseret'' (film), a 1995 experiment ...

", was first founded in 1882 in Salt Lake City, but it closed for financial reasons in 1900. In 1911, some LDS Church leaders, including

May Anderson May Anderson (June 8, 1864 – June 10, 1946) was the second general president of the children's Primary organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) between 1925 and 1939. Anderson also served as the first counse ...

and Louie B. Felt, pushed for a separate facility geared to needs of infants and young patients."Primary Children's Hospital - History"
''Intermountain Healthcare'', Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved on 16 March 2017. By 1913, a children's ward had been established at LDS Hospital and by 1922 a separate facility for children was established in a large Salt Lake City house. It was run by the Primary Association (the LDS Church's organization for children), thus the name. During those years, the LDS Church encouraged its members to donate to the hospital's fund by an annual fundraising effort, "Pennies By The Inch", in which members were asked to donate as many pennies as they were tall (in inches). From 1934 to 1974, the hospital building was referred to as PCH."Primary Children's Medical Center to change name"
'' Deseret News'', Salt Lake City, UT, 27 August 2013. Retrieved on 16 March 2017. On February 12, 1952, the hospital moved to a larger building located near the top of the Avenues area of Salt Lake (the hilly portion of northeast Salt Lake City). It was substantially enlarged in 1966, gaining nearly twice its original area. In 1974, the LDS Church decided to divest itself of the ownership and operation of several of its non-church-related activities such as health-care facilities. As a result, in 1975 its hospitals were turned over to the not-for-profit IHC group, which still owns and operates PCH. The Avenues facility was closed in 1990 and the hospital was moved to a larger facility on the medical campus of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. University faculty provide care for patients at PCH, and the University of Utah pediatric residency program and medical school use it as their pediatric training site. The facility was known as Primary Children's Medical Center from 1974 to 2013 until the hospital was renamed to Primary Children's Hospital. In January, 2020 PCH announced that they are going to build a second hospital in the Lehi region of Utah. The hospital is expected to cost $500 million and provide pediatric emergency care, intensive care, and behavioral health services. In July 2020 Primary Children's Hospital rolled out a new service for parents and families of babies that were in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The service run by company, AngelEye is able to provide video 24/7 to parents and families when they can't be in the NICU with their child. On July 4, 2020, members of the

Salt Lake City Police Department The Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) is the police department of Salt Lake City, Utah. History The SLCPD was founded in 1851, under a then newly created City Charter, when the Mayor authorized a police department to be created and forty ...

and surrounding departments brought their police cars to the hospital to perform a light show, "Good Night Lights." The show took place because the children in the hospital would not be able to enjoy the Independence Day firework celebrations.

About

Patient care units

The hospital has a 32-bed

pediatric intensive care unit A pediatric intensive care unit (also paediatric), usually abbreviated to PICU (), is an area within a hospital specializing in the care of critically ill infants, children, teenagers, and young adults aged 0-21. A PICU is typically directed by ...

to treat critically ill infants, children, teens, and young adults and a 50-bed AAP verified Level 4 neonatal intensive care unit to handle critically ill infants. * 35-bed Pediatric Emergency Department * 32-bed PICU * 16-bed CICU * 28-bed Neuro Trauma Unit * 50-bed Level IV NICU *128-beds General Pediatrics

Ronald McDonald House

Right down the road from Primary Children's Hospital is the Ronald McDonald House of the Intermountain Area. The house was originally established in 1988 and has a capacity of 72 rooms for parents and families of infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 coming from over 35 miles outside of the area. In addition to the nearby house, Ronald McDonald House of the Intermountain Area has family rooms on floors two and three of Primary Children's Hospital and features "hospitality carts" at nearby Ogden Regional Medical Center and Shriners Salt Lake City.

Utah Valley Hospital

UVH Primary Children's Network (27764450507)

In addition to their main campus at the University of Utah, doctors from Primary Children's Hospital provide care at the pediatric units at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah. As both hospitals are members of Intermountain Healthcare, Utah Valley (and other Intermountain hospitals) feed many patients to Primary Children's Hospital.

Awards

In 2017 Primary Children's Hospital was a semifinalist in the clinical care category of the Children's Hospital Association's annual Pediatric Quality Award. In 2020–21, PCH has placed nationally in 8 ranked pediatric specialties on U.S. News & World Report. In addition, PCH is ranked as the best children's hospital in Utah.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1922 establishments in Utah Hospital buildings completed in 1952 Hospital buildings completed in 1966 Children's hospitals in the United States Hospitals in Salt Lake City History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Intermountain Healthcare Primary (LDS Church) Teaching hospitals in Utah The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah Buildings and structures at the University of Utah University and college buildings completed in 1922 Pediatric trauma centers Hospital buildings completed in 1990