Some buildings carry meaning beyond their design or location. Sometimes, they symbolize a community’s commitment to something bigger. For Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, a new building opening this week stands for one thing: your child’s mental health.
“What we know is we have to start talking about mental health,” said Dr. Annie Deming, clinical director of the new facility. “It’s been something that’s been in the shadows for generations.”
Utah’s youngest generation will now have a place well out of the shadows for support. The new 90,000-square-foot Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Center in Taylorsville is designed to address children’s mental health needs head-on.
“Nationally, one in five children, by the time they’re 17, will have likely been diagnosed with a mental health condition,” Deming said. “In our state of Utah, we know that 23% of high school students have contemplated suicide and 9% have attempted suicide.”
To meet such urgent needs, the center will be open 24 hours a day — an emergency room of sorts for behavioral health crises.
“This will be a 24-hour walk-in center,” Deming said. “Parents can come not only if they’re in crisis, but if they just don’t know what to do. We’re there to help all hours of the day.”
When families arrive, the process will feel familiar but intentionally less clinical.
“They’ll be greeted at the door, they’ll be triaged to determine what level of care they might need, and then they’ll go into a room and meet with a doctor and a therapist and come up with a plan,” Deming explained. “However, the setting is bright, beautiful, calmer, quieter.”
Deming, who also maintains office hours as a practicing psychologist, said her passion comes from her own experience as a parent.
“I get so excited that as a parent myself, I know how hard it is,” she said. “And I just love when I can help a parent understand what’s happening with their kid and to give them the confidence to help.”
The center was designed with both children and families in mind. Like Primary Children’s Hospital, it features natural light, open spaces, and colorful, inviting touches that make it feel less intimidating.
“Everything that we do is family-centered, including the design of our building,” Deming said. “We have opportunities for families to room in during a patient’s inpatient stay, so they feel like they have comfort and their parent there supporting them. Just these beautiful spaces that parents can join in and really be a part of care. That’s something we’ve always done, but this new building will help us do it even better.”
Primary Children’s has long offered behavioral health services, but the demand has exceeded capacity. In 2023 alone, the hospital helped more than 10,000 children.
For information about behavioral health services, visit primarychildrens.org/behavioralhealth.
