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Anshen + Allen Taps Nature for Utah Medical Center

The center offers 486 acute and intensive care beds.

Laura B. Weiss -- Interior Design, 10/8/2007 12:00:00 AM

Can Mother Nature aid the healing process? With views of the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains from patient rooms, the 1.5 million-square-foot Intermountain Medical Center, situated 10 miles south of Salt Lake City is banking on nature’s calming effects as well as on the latest in health care treatments to improve patients’ care.

"The design of the medical center draws on the latest research, emphasizing connections to the natural world and to family as a way to speed healing and make patients comfortable,” says Roger Swanson, chairman of the board of Anshen + Allen, the architect for the Murray, Utah-based center, which is Intermountain Health Care’s new flagship.

Gardens, two fountains, winding paths, and an area for meditation are intended to help soothe patients and their families. To reinforce the connection with nature, the new structure was created with stone and wood and landscape paintings dot the facility.

The facility, which replaces an existing structure, is composed of five individual clinical centers, including a facility just for women and newborns, as well as cancer and heart and lung centers.

To ease the congestion that typically plague hospital emergency rooms, Intermountain Medical Center is divided into discrete areas that tailor patient care according to the severity of the illnesses. For example, patients with relatively minor problems will be treated in one place while those with more serious health issues, like a broken leg, will be ministered to in another.

The center is slated to open October 29.