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Riverton » Intermountain Healthcare's new hospital here promises to bring much-needed medical services to communities on the southwest end of the Salt Lake Valley.
The $160 million hospital complex, though, with its three buildings on 63 acres at 3741 W. 12600 South, will do more than provide hospital beds, physician offices and emergency services.
It also is expected to serve as a catalyst for future economic development in Riverton and surrounding communities.
"Certainly the main benefit the hospital will bring to the area is the quality medical services that will be available," Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth said Tuesday afternoon at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the hospital's planned opening Nov. 2.
But he anticipates the development also will spark additional residential, retail and commercial development in the area where vacant fields now sit ready and waiting for the bulldozer's roar and the cracking of the carpenter's nail gun.
"We're already seeing a lot of people moving into Riverton, Herriman and South Jordan who will be working at the hospital," he said. "But that is just the beginning. We're going to see all kinds of new development."
The hospital will be staffed by 700 employees, plus 150 physicians.
The majority of those employees were new hires, while the rest transferred in from other Intermountain hospitals and clinics. "We started hiring for
Yet well before the medical personnel walked the halls of the new Intermountain Riverton Hospital in preparation for its opening, Riverton already was enjoying an economic boom of sorts from the hundreds of construction workers who had a hand in the building of the new medical complex.
"They were visiting our restaurants and other retailers," Applegarth said.
Intermountain Board of Trustees Chairman Kem Gardner, a well-known Utah developer, said there still is a lot land left on the 63-acre site to accommodate expansion. "We have plenty of space."
Murray Mayor Dan Snarr said Riverton needs to be ready for additional growth.
Snarr said Murray experienced its own development boom after the opening in 2007 of the Intermountain Medical Center that sits just off State Street and 5400 South.
"It brought a lot of people to our city and drove a lot of business traffic," Snarr said, noting that new businesses opened to serve patients, their families and those working at IMC.
And Snarr, who said he frequently drives by the Intermountain Riverton Hospital on his way to visit family living in Herriman, anticipates the same type of economic development in Riverton.
"We wouldn't have had nearly the development we did if it weren't for IMC's presence in Murray."
When will it open? » Nov. 2.
How many employees? » 700, plus 150 physicians.
How big is the hospital complex? » 358,000 square feet (about the size of two Walmart Supercenters).
How much did it cost? » $160 million.
When did construction begin? » April 6, 2007.
