When 17-year-old Max was critically injured in a motocross accident near Delta, every minute mattered.
As he was being flown to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, his condition deteriorated rapidly. The flight crew made a decision that ultimately saved his life: divert to Primary Children's Hospital's Miller Family Campus in Lehi.
"He was in need of blood and so, you know, that's, you only have minutes there and so they had to make that diversion," said Lisa Paletta, president of Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital. "And stopped to Lehi to be able to continue the transfusions that he needed and ultimately saved his life."
The Lehi campus recently celebrated its second anniversary, a milestone Paletta says highlights the growing impact of having pediatric care available on both sides of Utah's busiest population corridor.
"It still feels brand new, but man, that's been a busy 2 years," Paletta said. "So yes, we just celebrated our 2-year anniversary."
Before the Lehi campus opened, patients like Max would have needed to travel farther for specialized pediatric care. While the Lehi and Salt Lake campuses are separated by only about 35 miles, they sit on opposite sides of the heavily traveled corridor between Salt Lake and Utah counties.
For emergency transports, that can mean saving 10 to 15 minutes by helicopter. By car, the trip can take about 40 minutes or longer depending on traffic.
The campus has also expanded its services since opening. It now houses a specialized program for children with pectus excavatum, often called a sunken chest wall, along with additional neonatal intensive care beds and an outdoor sports rehabilitation facility.
Paletta credits the hospital's success to its staff.
"The people that actually do the work, they're actually touching the patients, touching the families have just come together in such a, just a harmonious way and just work together like a fine-tuned symphony," she said.
The hospital's growth reflects a growing demand for pediatric care in Utah County and surrounding communities.
"We saw 8,000 outpatients last year, just 2025 alone, 78,000 interactions," Paletta said. "And if you think of the distance they would have to travel if all those were still at just one location."
In its first two years, Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital's Miller Family Campus has handled more than 39,000 emergency visits, performed 11,000 surgeries and completed 145,000 clinic appointments.
