The history of Intermountain Healthcare is deeply intertwined with the trailblazing and innovative pioneer spirit that helped establish the Intermountain West. Contemplating our past this Pioneer Day can help guide our future.
Dr. Ellis Reynolds Shipp, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, Annie Taylor Dee, Dr. Homer Warner, and Dr. Russell M. Nelson are among the many pioneers who helped shaped Intermountain.
Intermountain’s roots extend back to pioneer women like Ellis Reynolds Shipp, MD, who was one of the first female physicians west of the Mississippi River. After completing medical school in 1878, she operated a medical practice, served on the board of the Deseret Hospital Association (a forerunner of Intermountain Healthcare), and established a school of obstetrics and nursing. She also traveled to teach in Canada, Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada. She delivered more than 5,000 babies in her 50-year medical career, and led the training of more than 500 licensed midwives.
Pioneer Martha Hughes Cannon, MD, founded a nurses’ training school in Salt Lake City and became the first resident physician at Deseret Hospital—a forerunner of LDS Hospital. Dr. Cannon was also elected as a senator in the first Utah state legislature in 1896—becoming the first female state senator in the country—and authored several successful legislative bills that revolutionized public health and sanitation in the state.
Although she had no medical training herself, Annie Taylor Dee saw a need and stepped forward to establish the first hospital in Ogden—Dee Hospital—which eventually became McKay-Dee Hospital. Annie also supported the creation of a nursing school that’s now part of Weber State University. She served as the McKay-Dee Hospital matron for many years and remained involved with the hospital until her death in 1934.
Subsequent Intermountain innovators have drawn upon those pioneer roots to continue to be pioneers in healthcare. Our pioneers include people like Homer Warner, MD, who pioneered the use of computers in medicine and created one of the nation’s first electronic medical records. And heart surgeon Russell M. Nelson, MD, who performed the first open-heart surgery in the western U.S. and developed many innovative heart care methods throughout his career at LDS Hospital.
Intermountain continues to be a pioneer in the healthcare industry with efforts like reimagining primary care, telehealth services, clinical research, and precision genomics. Intermountain’s HerediGene: Population Study is the largest DNA study in the country and has the potential to revolutionize care.
Upon Intermountain’s founding in 1975, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gifted its system of hospitals to the community, we received this innovative, pioneering charge from Presiding Bishop Victor Brown that has shaped our path ever since: “Create a model healthcare system.”
Bishop Brown added, “There are no restrictions now, except those you place on yourselves. The delivery of healthcare in the communities served by these hospitals can be a shining light to the nation.”
“As a longtime Intermountain caregiver, I’m continually impressed with our appetite and aptitude to innovate,” says Eric Liston, administrator of Intermountain Connect. “I believe that appetite comes from our vision to be a model healthcare system that provides high-quality, cost-effective, and accessible services. I see this first-hand in my day-to-day work leading telehealth, where we use technology that gives patients access to the care they need no matter where they are, provides additional subspecialty support to rural communities, builds teamwork among caregivers across geographies, and improves outcomes—while driving down costs .”
“Healthcare innovation has always been in Intermountain’s DNA and it’s needed now more than ever,” says Shannon Phillips, MD, chief medical officer of Community-based Care and Intermountain Medical Group president. “Today our industry is focused on better health, improved quality of life, and best outcomes, all centered on a great experience. Our mission and spirit of innovation is just right for today and the future.”
“It’s no surprise the most innovative health system in the country was founded right here in the Intermountain West. Our region has blazed new trails in health throughout our rich history,” says CEO Marc Harrison, MD. “Today, each and every one of us are making history by leading a movement to keep people healthier for less and to serve as that model health system for the nation.”