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Intermountain Healthcare to change its name in 2023

The new name aims to a focus on whole-health initiatives, the health care system said.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Intermountain Healthcare will shorten its name in 2023 to Intermountain Health.

Intermountain Healthcare will shorten its name in 2023 to Intermountain Health.

The name change is meant to signal an “increased emphasis on whole health-focused initiatives” while staying true to Intermountain’s “rich foundation of providing extraordinary care for the communities it serves,” according to a news release.

Intermountain said more details will be announced in January, when the name change is rolled out. The change will be phased in over a period of time, Intermountain spokesperson Jess Gomez said.

“Intermountain will continue its mission of helping people live the healthiest lives possible,” Gomez said, “but also continue to champion preventative care and wellness, addressing social determinants of health, and healthcare innovations.”

In April, Intermountain merged with Colorado-based SCL Health. The combined not-for-profit system operates 33 hospitals and 385 clinics in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Kansas. It has more than 59,000 employees, and it is the 11th-largest nonprofit health care system in the U.S.

Intermountain is headquartered in Salt Lake City, with regional offices in Broomfield, Colorado, and Las Vegas. It was founded in 1975 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints got out of the health care business and donated its 15 hospitals to the then-new entity.

In August, Intermountain CEO Dr. Marc Harrison announced plans to step down. He left for a leadership position to run a health care platform for a venture capital firm, according to a company statement.

Later that month, Intermountain named Lydia Jumonville as its interim president and CEO. Jumonville served as the president and CEO of SCL Health before the organization merged with Intermountain.

The name-change announcement comes five years after University of Utah Healthcare shortened its name to University of Utah Health — U of U Health or U Health, for short. At that time, the system’s chief marketing officer said, “The change reflects the need to communicate the full spectrum of what we provide from wellness to cancer care. ‘Health’ reflects the full breadth of our services.”