Intermountain Healthcare history

In 1976 it teamed up with hospitals in other states to create Multihospital Mutual Insurance, Ltd. to provide liability coverage.

In these early years, IHC saved some small rural hospitals, such as Valley View, which in 1977 regained it accreditation.

In cooperation with other nonprofit hospitals, IHC formed the Associated Hospital System (AHS) in 1978 to save money on joint purchases.

Such new and diverse programs led IHC in 1983 to reorganize as a parent company with five subsidiaries.

AHS merged with the United Hospital System in 1984 to form the American Hospital Systems, again to take advantage of economy-of-scale purchasing power.

In 1986 more than 100,000 patient visits were recorded at these various smaller IHC facilities.

Although IHC computer software had been sold to more than 200 hospitals nationwide, the company sold that business in 1988 to focus on its main goals.

Thus in 1989 the company eliminated 20 management positions, a fairly typical move in the Information Age when middle management was becoming increasingly irrelevant.

National and international recognition of these innovative programs soon came. For example, in 1991 IHC received the Healthcare Forum/Witt Award for Commitment to Quality, similar to the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award.

After 20 years of operations, IHC by 1995 had provided more than $130 million in charitable care for patients.

Planning for the hospital began in 1997 to solve two challenges: Intermountain Healthcare’s Cottonwood Hospital needed to be rebuilt, and LDS Hospital, which was Intermountain’s flagship hospital, was landlocked and no longer able to expand.

In 1998 IHC seemed to be doing a good job of adapting to what many have called a health care revolution, in part by balancing what author John Naisbett in Megatrends called high-tech and high-touch approaches.

In 2002, McKay-Dee Hospital opened its doors in its current location.

At the end of the first day, 164 patients were in the new hospital, including 113 who had come from LDS Hospital and 51 from Cottonwood Hospital, which closed on October 29, 2007.

In 2009, the Foundation’s board once again refined the Foundation’s grant-making focus to encourage direct healthcare and healthcare-support services.

During 2011, research was conducted to determine the best way to help Intermountain Healthcare and its hospital foundations — those that were affiliated but not part of Intermountain Healthcare — succeed in their philanthropic endeavors.

October 29, 2017, was the 10th anniversary of when Intermountain Medical Center opened its doors and began service patients.