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Intermountain Health highlights mental-health focus, community benefit and suicide concerns for older adults
Summary
Intermountain Health CEO Rob Allen told the symposium the system provided $1.3 billion in community benefit last year, identified mental well-being and social determinants (food and housing) as top priorities, and flagged a higher senior suicide rate in the Interior West.
Rob Allen, president and CEO of Intermountain Health, told attendees that the nonprofit health system reported about $1.3 billion in community benefit to its service areas last year and provided charity care to hundreds of thousands of patients.
"Using the state required guidelines of calculating that benefit, last year, Intermountain provided $1,300,000,000 of support across our community," Allen said, and he described organizational priorities identified in community needs assessments: mental well-being, avoidable chronic conditions and social determinants of health such as food and housing insecurity.
Allen also warned of a troubling pattern in Utah: although the state compares favorably on some metrics, he said seniors face elevated suicide rates in the Interior West and easy access to firearms raises lethality in attempts. He urged cross-sector approaches — clarifying roles for health systems, local governments, families and state agencies — to prevent crises and support aging-in-place strategies.
Intermountain's emphasis on upstream, proactive care and remote-monitoring programs was presented as part of a broader plan to manage costs and improve outcomes as Utah's population ages.
