New Taylorsville hospital to offer children 24/7 behavioral crisis care

Taylorsville • A first-in-the-state behavioral health center for children will soon open in Salt Lake County, providing sorely needed round-the-clock crisis care and in-patient treatment beds.

The three-story Taylorsville center is expected to start operating Sept. 6 and was built from the ground up to accommodate families’ needs, said Amanda Choudhary, president of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital’s Taylorsville campus.

Its 24/7 crisis care services make up most of the first floor, painted in pastel blues and pinks. The in-patient services, including 36 rooms with L-shaped beds for both a parent and child, are on the mint green-painted second floor.

Out-patient services, such as group and individual therapy, or psychological testing, are on the third floor, backdropped with lavender paint and starry space nebulas. Most rooms feature large windows, showing off vistas of the surrounding mountains.

About 300 people, including Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, donors, caregivers and lawmakers, attended the 90,000-square-foot center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday.

Intermountain President and CEO Rob Allen told attendees that Utah, like many other states, is in the throes of a pediatric mental health crisis. There are too few providers and access points, he said, and long wait times for what behavioral health services exist.

In 2023, 23% of surveyed Utah high schoolers seriously considered suicide, he said, citing federal public health data. A reported 9% attempted it. That same survey found 37% felt sad or hopeless.

He added that in the last five years, his hospitals have seen a 40% increase in children accessing their services. Last year, Allen said, more than 10,000 received behavioral health care at Primary Children’s Hospital.

“Our kids aren’t just these numbers. They are our kids. They are our community’s children,” Allen said, “We want every child to have a chance to thrive and to live their healthiest life. The center we celebrate here today is an important part of the solution, to move these services to where they’re needed.”

The Legislature appropriated $25 million to build the Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Center in 2023, and tens of millions more came in the form of donations to the hospital’s Primary Promise campaign, a fundraiser to “build the nation’s model health system for children.”

Allen said the new hospital was a “monument to the commitment of all those who care about this important work.”

‘Incredibly important’ care

Two behavioral health patients were also at the presentation: Rachel Glade and Wren Ahrens.

Glade, who uses American Sign Language and communicated to attendees through a translator, said her health problems started around the time of her first breath. She faced serious issues with her heart, lungs and stomach. Eating was hard, and she struggled to hear. That led to a “life of testing, surgeries, procedures and many hospital states.”

As a fighter, Glade said she fought back against all the prodding, and began, at around 3 years old, to have “severe behavioral issues.”

She sought help from others, but her favorite was at Primary Children’s Hospital. There, she learned coping skills that make her current life possible. She’s since graduated cosmetology school and works at a local candy store, and said she thinks it’s “incredibly important” for more children to have access to similar care.

Wren’s parents sought behavioral health care at her Intermountain pediatrician’s recommendation, her mother, Micki Ahrens, said in a recorded video played at the ceremony. That doctor referred them to a Primary Children’s behavioral clinic.

Wren was “really scared and worried” when she started treatment, she said, but it has “really helped me.” Ahrens said it was an “amazing feeling and relief” to find such care within the same health system their family was already using.

When officials strung out a navy blue ribbon across the stage, they handed the giant silver scissors to Glade and Wren, who deftly sliced it with one snip to uproarious applause.

How much will it cost?

The new center’s crisis care will function like an emergency room, accepting patients regardless of insurance, said Dr. Lisa Giles, who works with both University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, where she is the medical director of pediatric behavioral health.

She said a case worker could also refer patients and families seeking financial aid to the Primary Children’s Foundation’s assistance program.

The hospital’s free assessment, referral and consultation services, which they call ARCS, can be reached at 385-478-2400 on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Anyone can also reach the Utah Crisis line at no cost by dialing 988 at any time.

Other services, Giles said, like the stabilization mobile response team that can give in-home crisis support are funded by the state and cost nothing to use.

“It’s about getting kids the care they need,” she said. “We never want financial barriers or anything to get in the way.”