Riverton Hospital celebrates expansion

RIVERTON (Deseret News) — Primary Children's Medical Center and Riverton Hospital have announced a major new expansion — the first-ever pediatric inpatient unit outside of the main PCMC campus.

To be housed in the unfinished south wing on the fourth floor of the existing Riverton Hospital, the new facility could be open as early as October.

It will include 30 beds in a 2,300-square-foot area.

"This is a great occasion and a wonderful opportunity for the community," Blair Kent, CEO/administrator of Riverton Hospital, said Friday during a press conference.

"This really is a historic day," Primary Children's CEO Joe Mott said.

He said requests for such a facility, closer to the youth population center of the Salt Lake Valley, started a decade ago. However, an inpatient facility wasn't sustainable until now.

In addition, Mott said that until nine months ago, the plan was for such a facility to be part of the main LDS Hospital.

The main Primary Children's Medical Center has been overcrowded lately. For example, the facility recently housed 300 patients — several dozen beyond its standard capacity.

"It will give us more bed capacity," Mott said of the Riverton expansion.

He's also keen because this partnership brings sister hospitals together.

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