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Spanish Fork Hospital tells Santaquin council it is expanding and urges preventative screenings
Summary
Cesar Garcia of Spanish Fork Hospital briefed council on facility growth since 2021, near‑term plans to expand the emergency department and add a second CT scanner, rising emergency visits, and a public plea to increase preventative screenings and helmet safety for e‑bike/scooter riders.
Santaquin — Cesar Garcia, nurse administrator at Spanish Fork Hospital (part of Intermountain), addressed the Santaquin City Council on Oct. 7 about hospital growth, capacity and community health priorities.
Garcia said the hospital opened in 2021 and now has close to 400 caregivers and is affiliated with over 1,000 providers. He described steady increases in emergency visits — ‘‘about every year, we're seeing 1,000 more visits every year, compared to the year before’’ — and announced plans to expand the emergency department and add a second CT scanner to respond to demand.
Garcia also urged the public to increase cancer and other preventative screenings, noting Utah‘s screening rates lag national averages and highlighting a local staff screening that detected breast cancer in a caregiver. "Please encourage...your wife, your sister, your daughter...to get those screens because it really can save lives," he said. He emphasized helmet safety for e‑bikes and scooters, noting related injuries have doubled annually since 2017 and rank among the top trauma activations at the hospital.
Councilmembers thanked Garcia and asked a few follow‑ups about community outreach; Garcia said the hospital runs education programs such as falls‑prevention classes and trauma outreach through staff coordinators.
Garcia encouraged the city to include the hospital in future community health events and said the facility intends to grow alongside the region as demand increases.
