(435) 676-8811
200 North 400 East
Panguitch, Utah 84759Map

Garfield Memorial Hospital

Garfield Memorial Hospital History

The original Garfield Memorial Hospital was part of the hospital system owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1975 the hospitals were turned over to the newly created nonprofit corporation Intermountain Healthcare (Intermountain), the same year the new Garfield Memorial Hospital was built.

A significant portion of the money used to build Garfield Memorial Hospital came from the people of Garfield County through auctions, bake sales and direct donation. The rest of the funds came from government grants and private contributions.

Operations in the new hospital began in 1976 with the first medical staff recruited from the National Health Corps. The medical staff consisted of three practitioners, but has now expanded to seven practitioners: (3) physicians; (1) Physician Assistant; (1) Family Nurse Practitioner; (1) Nurse Midwife; (1) Nurse Anesthetist.

Originally the hospital consisted of twenty beds that could be used for acute hospital care, skilled nursing care or long-term care. As the trend in medical care went to shorter hospital stays and more outpatient services, some of these rooms were converted for outpatient and administrative services. The long-term care wing was added in 1996 with the building and rooms constructed in such a way that they met swing bed standards and could be used as acute care beds should the need ever arise. This brought the total beds available to over forty.

During its first decade the hospital was owned by Garfield County, and during its second decade of operation the hospital was owned by Intermountain. In the year 2000, ownership reverted back to the county, and operations continue to be managed by Intermountain.