Latest news with #JubileeofTrees
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital Opens Behavioral Health Day Program for Kids
ST. GEORGE, Utah (Good Things Utah) – The new Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital Day Treatment Center is opening its doors to address a critical need in pediatric behavioral health care, thanks to the generosity of the community. The center started providing care to children in the Adolescent Behavioral Health Partial Hospitalization Program on January 28. The program offers intensive behavioral health care and skill building to kids five days a week, for the length of a typical school day. At the end of each day, participants go home to practice the new skills they've learned with their family. Children are in the program between 10 and 14 days, depending on individual needs. 'This level of care addresses what once was a mental health care gap and fills it with hope for kids and families in the St. George area,' said Chase Knaphus, pediatric behavioral health director of intensive and outpatient services for Intermountain Children's Health. 'Thanks to community generosity, Southern Utah has a new way to help children thrive.' The Partial Hospitalization Program is made possible by generous community donations at 2022 Jubilee of Trees, which raised $1.2 million to support much-needed pediatric and adolescent mental and behavioral health services at Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital. The annual event, hosted by the Intermountain Foundation at St. George Regional Hospital, has raised funds to advance community medical services at the hospital since 1983. The Partial Hospitalization Program is, in terms of intensity, middle ground in the spectrum of pediatric behavioral health services. It is more intensive than an hourlong outpatient visit with a therapist, and yet not as intense as mental health crisis hospitalization services. In the Partial Hospitalization Program, participants receive care from an Intermountain Children's Health multi-disciplinary team, including mental health therapists, doctors, nurses, and expressive therapy teams. Participants receive care and learn new skills, and their families learn ways to support their wellbeing. At the end of each day in the program, participants return to their families to practice their new skills. 'When kids have the opportunity to apply their new skills at home with their families, they have a much greater likelihood of success following treatment,' Knaphus said. Suicide is the leading cause of death for Utah youth ages 10 to 17. It's estimated that 40 percent of children who have depression are not getting care. Last year, 43 percent of Utah youth who felt sad, hopeless, or suicidal reported that they did not talk to anyone about it. Enhancing behavioral health services for children is part of Intermountain Healthcare's Primary Promise to create a model health system for children. Intermountain Health Partial Hospitalization Programs are in Ogden through Intermountain McKay-Dee Hospital, and at Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital's Wasatch Canyons Campus in Taylorsville and at Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Campus in Lehi. For more behavioral health information, visit or call the Assessment, Referral, and Consultation Services line at (801) 313-7711 if your child needs assistance. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Sponsored by Intermountain Health. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Construction begins on surgical tower for growing St. George population
Utah's third-fastest-growing city has the state's highest percentage of seniors, according to Intermountain Health, which is expanding its St. George Regional Hospital to meet the needs of residents, but also the many tourists at nearby national parks and recreational areas. Intermountain Health broke ground on a surgical tower that will add more operating rooms. Donations from the 2023 Jubilee of Trees community fundraiser — a 41-year-old event — will be used to build the hospital. Natalie Ashby, the hospital's president, said the hospital has been adding seven surgeons each year and needs additional space and technology to keep pace with the community's needs. "We've seen tremendous growth in our area and are so pleased to begin this expansion of our surgical services to meet the needs of our increasing population," she said at the groundbreaking ceremony Monday. Funding from the Jubilee of Trees will also provide technology upgrades to help surgeries be more precise and less invasive, meaning patients will have better outcomes and shorter recoveries, a statement from Intermountain said. Dr. Patrick Carroll, chief medical officer at St. George Regional, said the expansion will also allow them to treat more patients and have shorter wait times. "We are committed to the health and well-being of our community and always strive to provide access to world-class care," he said. Karen Conner, a critical care nurse from Lander, Wyoming, was walking along a dirt road in La Verkin, Washington County, in April 2023 when she went to check out a smell, tripped on a rock and fell 40 feet down a cliff. A small rock and bush kept her from falling even further into the Virgin River. She was flown by Life Flight to the trauma center at the St. George hospital and said the team there did a great job putting her back together. "I felt very grateful I was still alive and not paralyzed," said Conner, who had broken her spine and neck in multiple places. She said she still drives eight hours to have her post-hospitalization care at the St. George Regional Hospital to maintain a continuum of care. "Trauma surgery is not always the easiest. The trauma program in St. George is pretty advanced compared to other parts of the country," Conner said. Loriana De Crescenzo, executive director at the Intermountain Foundation at the St. George hospital, said the foundation is blessed to be part of a community that "embodies the spirit of giving" and steps up to help. This generosity, Intermountain Health said in a statement, was vital for not just this upcoming addition but also to establishing Life Flight services, pediatric behavioral health services, neuroscience services and cancer care in St. George.
