University of Utah Health and Mountain West Medical Center today announced details of their affiliation, which will benefit patients needing neurology, cardiac, stroke specialty care as well as intensive care for adults.
"As more families move to the area, we knew it was time to broaden our services to meet the needs of a larger population," said Philip Eaton CEO of Mountain West Medical Center. "Through our affiliation with University of Utah Health, a leading academic medical center, higher-acuity patients and complex cases can now be treated locally in less time than it would take traveling to big city locations."
As a result of the agreement signed last September, University of Utah Health's high-quality standards of care and protocols, Mountain West staff members have received more than 500 clinical training hours year-to-date. Some elements of training have included protocols to ensure patients receive the highest standards of care particularly regarding PICC Placement and Adult ICU.
"We are excited for our hospital physicians and staff to collaborate on complex cases with University of Utah Health's leading specialists," added Eaton. "Giving patients and families an option to stay close to home in emergency health situations is a huge win for our community."
Tooele County residents will continue to have access to TeleStroke, along with the addition of TeleICU and TeleNeurology. Over the past year, Mountain West Medical Center has been a consistent top performer in University of Utah Health's network of TeleStroke affiliations, with the fastest door-in, door-out time, when compared with other members of University of Utah Telestroke Network.
"Our affiliation with Mountain West Medical Center creates an opportunity to expand the scope of health care services in Tooele County," said Michael L. Good MD, CEO of University of Utah Health. "We believe the families of Tooele County will value the broad scope of high-quality services right in their hometown."
Expanded cardiology services will be another benefit to the local community, "If a patient is in need of an emergency intervention, the teams can collaborate in less than 100 minutes," said Eaton. "In a life-threatening cardiac case, those minutes make all the difference in reducing mortality rates for patients." The standard for collaboration with outside facilities is over 120 minutes.
"The announcement of this affiliation will only lead to more collaboration between our organizations, added Eaton. "And as more consumers strive to receive high-quality care close to home, we feel confident this agreement will improve health outcomes and quality of life for the residents of our community."
More information about the affiliation is available at Mountain West.