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Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County updates commissioners on services, grants and workforce needs
Summary
Interim CEO Carrie Quickenen told the county commission the hospital is expanding services, has completed a $9 million lab project with county match funds, secured a $2 million grant for PET/CT equipment and is eligible for state rural-health incentives; workforce and behavioral-health funding were highlighted as ongoing priorities.
Interim CEO Carrie Quickenen presented Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County's annual report to commissioners on June 16, summarizing service growth, capital projects and workforce initiatives.
Quickenen said the hospital's maintenance fund (about $746,092) supported projects including roof repairs, medical-air repairs and ambulance-bay door replacement; the hospital left roughly $275,000 unused in that budget line. She described the lab project as roughly a $9 million investment that included a $3 million county match and SLIB and foundation funding. The lab move and new foundation space are intended to improve patient access and privacy.
The hospital detailed clinical expansions, including osteoarthritis radiation therapy in the radiation oncology program and a $2 million grant from the Leona Helmsley Charitable Trust to install a PET/CT unit expected in late fall. Quickenen highlighted accreditation wins (College of American Pathology for the lab) and a three-year trauma designation for the emergency department. She also outlined workforce efforts, including recruitment of 14 new nursing graduates and partnerships for tele-NICU services with the University of Utah.
Commissioners thanked hospital leadership for stewardship and discussed state rural-health transformation funds that could yield direct incentive payments for services such as obstetrics; Quickenen said Memorial Hospital would likely qualify for direct incentive payments for existing services and that applications open in July.
The board approved multiple hospital-board appointments (including a five-year reappointment of Candy Pendleton) and heard routine trustee updates.
