Layton Hospital tells Davis County commissioners it provided $4.6 million in charity care, outlines clinic and behavioral health expansions

Layton Hospital officials told the Davis County Commission on Sept. 16 that the hospital provided $4,600,000 in charity care last year and detailed ongoing and planned investments in outpatient clinics, behavioral health and telehealth for rural communities.

Speaking at the Administration Building, Kelly Duffin, president of Layton Hospital, said the hospital's community contributions include charity care, discounted charges, capital reinvestment and community health programs that together she described as the hospital's "gift to the community." "Last year, Layton Hospital provided $4,600,000 in charitable care to members of the community," Duffin said.

Duffin said the hospital recorded 6,870 charity-care cases during the year and that, for the services that qualify under nonprofit rules, the hospital's estimated property-tax equivalent would have been about $1,900,000. She also said the hospital and Intermountain Healthcare system report larger aggregate community-benefit figures: "This is Intermountain Health's entire community benefit in '23 of dollars 746,000,000," Duffin said, comparing that with an estimate of $469,000,000 in equivalent taxes.

Why it matters: county officials pressed for detail on access and cost as housing, wages and health-care costs change locally. Commissioners and county staff asked how the hospital's investments affect care availability in Davis County and what to expect as the region grows.

Key facts and figures - Charity care (Layton Hospital): $4,600,000 in the last year; 6,870 charity-care cases, according to Duffin. - Estimated property-tax equivalent for charity-care services: about $1,900,000. - Discounts and community-benefit adjustments at the Layton campus: Duffin described roughly $34,000,000 in discounts from retail charges and a total community-gift figure shown in the presentation near $38,000,000 (hospital-level calculation). - Capital reinvestment on the Layton campus cited at $7,000,000 for the year; examples included labor-and-delivery expansion, emergency-department expansion and a six-room mid-surge unit. - Uncollected bad debt: commissioners and staff discussed roughly $7,000,000 in bad debt written off; Duffin said bad debt is distinct from charity care and tends to rise about 5% year over year. - Facility and staffing: Duffin said Layton Hospital has 43 licensed beds and nearly 600 caregivers and is designated a level-3 trauma center.

What the hospital said it does Duffin and other Intermountain representatives said the hospital meets community-health requirements that support nonprofit property-tax exemption and that the hospital reinvests net income into community-facing services and facilities. Duffin described the hospital's charity-care eligibility process: patients at or below 150% of the federal poverty level automatically qualify for charity care, with graded assistance available up to 277% of the poverty level.

Expansion plans and services Duffin described a recently built ambulatory surgery center owned through a joint-venture structure (physician owners with Intermountain) that pays taxes and offers lower-cost surgical care. She said that outpatient surgery at that center can be about 40% less expensive than the same surgery in the hospital.

She also confirmed Intermountain's plans to purchase land in the Farmington Station area for a clinic that will include behavioral-health outpatient services. Duffin said the hospital is expanding outpatient clinic locations and cited investments intended to place care closer to where patients live.

Behavioral health and maternal programs Commissioners and staff discussed behavioral-health capacity and maternal-health supports. Duffin noted a new Primary Children's outpatient behavioral-health campus opened recently (ribbon cutting mentioned) and described outpatient behavioral-health services planned for the Farmington clinic. She said those services are outpatient (not ER-level crisis care) and are intended to provide an intermediate level of counseling and social-work support within primary-care and clinic settings.

Duffin and county staff also discussed maternal-health efforts: Layton Hospital and collaborators plan to expand Nurse-Family Partnership-style programs and group prenatal education models. Duffin said the county and hospital teams are coordinating on maternal and early-childhood supports.

Telehealth and rural support Intermountain representatives described telehealth as a major tool for expanding specialty access in rural Utah. They cited a telehealth center in the Murray area and said Intermountain provides subspecialty consultations remotely to rural hospitals and non-Intermountain facilities that contract for telemedicine services. The presentation also referenced expanded air-medical transport coverage (an example given was a permanent helicopter based at Logan Regional) as part of broader rural access strategies.

Quality comparisons and recognition Duffin and other Intermountain staff referenced publicly available quality measures when commissioners asked how hospitals compare. She noted Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital ratings and participation in Visient benchmarking; she also said Layton Hospital was recently recognized among comparable small community hospitals in a Visient cohort.

Cost trends and payer pressures County HR and benefits staff asked whether the post-pandemic spike in medical costs is easing. Duffin said health-care cost pressures remain, and the hospital pursues two broad strategies: simplification (efficiency) and proactive/preventive care to identify disease earlier and reduce high-cost care. She acknowledged rising bad debt and said it increases at roughly 5% per year.

What the presentation did not decide No formal county actions, votes or contract decisions were taken during the presentation. The session served as the annual nonprofit community-benefit presentation that the county requires for property-tax exemption reporting.

Speakers and attributions All quoted material and attributions in this article come from speakers who appeared in the meeting record: Kelly Duffin (president, Layton Hospital); Matt Anderson (community relationships manager, Intermountain); Anne Kazzara (community health director); Glenn Murrell (chief medical officer); Becky Wright (clerk's office); Rebecca Abbott (clerk's office); Chris Bone (human resources and risk); Scott Mark (controller); Neil Geddes (attorney's office); John Props (commissioner); Maureen Kamalu (commissioner); Chad Holmes (staff member); and a staff member identified as Priscilla.

Ending County officials thanked the Intermountain team for the presentation; commissioners and staff said they would continue to coordinate with hospital leaders on access, behavioral health and maternal-health initiatives as county planning and population growth continue.