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LEHI, Utah — At 8 years old, after years of treatment for a rare kidney disease, Nellie Maynor’s life was changed with a kidney transplant surgery at Primary Children’s Hospital.
Although she is now 13, according to Nellie, “it feels like it was yesterday.”
“I am so proud to say that I am one of the many examples of the miracles that happen at Primary Children’s Hospital every day,” she said. “I’m now living my best life as a teenager.”
Nellie was sharing remarks with hundreds of people who were gathered on Friday to celebrate the opening of the new Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Hospital Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus in Lehi, where the ribbon was officially cut following more than three years of construction.
The new 485,000 square-foot hospital, located in one of the fastest growing metro areas in the United States, will provide world-class health care to young patients throughout Utah, the Intermountain West and beyond.
“The opening of this second campus is the most significant event for children in this community in more than a century,” said Primary Children’s Hospital CEO Katy Welkie.
Jacobsen Construction led the building of this hospital, which will offer a wide range of pediatric health care services, including newborn intensive care, infusion therapy, physical therapy, mental health treatment and much more. The campus includes 66 inpatient beds and 35 outpatient specialty clinics. It will be open to its first patients starting Monday, Feb. 12.
“One of the things that was most important for our project team was to understand what this meant for the community. It’s something that we focused on very early on and re-emphasized it during the construction,” said Jacobsen Vice President, Project Executive Blake Court.
“Many of the craftworkers on this project live near Lehi. And this will become their Primary Children’s Hospital, that they will go to. Almost everyone on this project has had an experience benefitting from quality care at Primary Children’s Hospital, through either family or friends. So, it means a lot to each of us to be able to say, ‘what I’m doing is important for my community.’”
The new Primary Children’s Hospital campus was made possible in part by a generous $50 million donation from well-known Utah philanthropist Gail Miller, who spoke at the ribbon cutting celebration.
“It’s remarkable to see what’s been accomplished in such a short amount of time,” Miller said in her remarks.
Miller added, “this Intermountain children’s health initiative was born because of children like Nellie.”
