The birth of our hospital – Park Record

In September, our community celebrated 15 years of Park City Hospital and its contributions to the health and well-being of our community. I thought it would be appropriate to also highlight its humble beginnings as a grassroots effort by many community members, from doctors to business professionals.

The Summit Hospital Development Foundation was founded in the winter of 1999 due to a rapidly growing community and a desire to support the community’s hospital needs without requiring residents and visitors to travel 30 to 60 miles outside of Summit County. The Summit/Wasatch County Medical Society spent hundreds of hours talking with Western State hospital administrators and physicians to find out “what does/doesn’t work” in similar communities. In January 2000, citizens were invited to join this initiative. A working committee of 15 physicians and 15 community members directed the organization through registration (non-profit).

The group met early in the morning in the basement of the Jack Johnson Building, forming subcommittees to examine the feasibility/business plan, land/facilities acquisition, financial implications, community support, etc. Thanks to the generous donation of Bino Solomon, we commissioned a feasibility study that clearly showed need and support for the local hospital.

With the results of the feasibility study in hand, foundation board members and volunteers conducted community outreach, fundraising efforts and a thorough evaluation of several potential partners to build and operate the hospital. Based on the evaluation results and memorandum of understanding, we selected Intermountain Healthcare as our partner. Thanks to successful early fundraising, we were able to hire Joanna Charnes, a public relations specialist.

With gratitude for our wonderful Intermountain Park Community Hospital, let’s thank those who worked tirelessly early on to make our community’s cornerstone a reality!

Wayne Allen, Randy Belnick, Linda Blonsley, Beverly Boyna, Hal Cook, Vern Cooley, John Culberson, Bill Dubiel. Frances Dye, Jean Dye, Michael Gladson, Steve Hamilton, Shana Hopperstead, Alice Hammons, Joan Jacobson, Ian Jones-Schenk, Deb Kennedy, Kim Labertue, Noah Levin, Eldon Lloyd, Val Logsdon, Dondea Lykes, Jack Massimino, Kathleen McKenna, Brad Olch, Darrick Olsen, John Olson, Mitch Perkiel, Al Pokorny, Katie Pope, Ken Richens, John Rosen, Bino Solomon, Tom Terry, Joe Tesch, Doug Toole, Dana Williams, Craig Wing

Given my memory and the few remaining basic notes, I apologize if I accidentally left anyone off this list.

Shana Hopperstead

Jeremy Ranch