Fetal Center gift furthers Intermountain’s mission to build a model health system for children

By

Patrick Jones

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The Utah Fetal Center and Intermountain’s Primary Children’s Hospital received a $15 million grant last week to strengthen the center’s fetal care and surgeries for expecting mothers. The grant also renames the center to the Grant Scott Bonham Fetal Center after the unborn son of the granters, Brad and Megan Bohnam.

The gift will help establish the first specialized fetal care center in the state. It will allow Primary Children’s to become “a national leader in comprehensive fetal care, including complex surgeries. 

 

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The grant is part of Intermountain’s “Primary Promise” to build “the nation’s model health system for children,” according to a press release. This initiative has promised to invest over $500 million in pediatric-specific projects and facilities that serve Intermountain West. 

The effort inspired another gift of $50 million to start the initiative from philanthropist Gail Miller, owner and board chair of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies and chair of the Intermountain Healthcare Board of Trustees. 

“This effort comes at a critical time, as the number of children served by Intermountain Healthcare continues to rapidly grow, and their needs continue to change and become more complex,” said Katy Welkie, CEO of Primary Children’s Hospital and Vice President of Intermountain’s Children’s Health.

Intermountain has committed half of the $500 million for this effort and assigned the Intermountain Foundation to fund the rest of the effort through philanthropic support. This represents the biggest funding commitment to children’s health since the inception of Primary Children’s in the early 20th century. 

The effort includes three main components:

  • Strengthening Primary Children’s hospital through advanced fetal care, enlarged NICU, and expanded cancer treatment. 
  • Extending children’s health care across Intermountain West by constructing a second Primary Children’s hospital in Lehi and bringing specialty care closer to families on the Wasatch Front. 
  • Targeting children’s emerging health needs through expanding mental and behavioral health services for children and teens and expanding teen-to-adult transition programs for children with serious conditions like diabetes and cystic-fibrosis. 

“The time to enhance the health of our children, families, and communities at all levels is now,” said Marc Harrison, MD, president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare, who is also a pediatric critical care physician. “We are humbled and honored that the Miller family has provided this transformative gift to help Intermountain Healthcare achieve the best care for children anywhere. We will steward this precious gift for the sole good of our children and hope that it will inspire others to join us and help bring this once-in-a-generation opportunity to life.”