UTAH

UTAH STATE REPRESENTATIVE Nicholas Carr, DO nicholas.carr@hsc.utah.edu

NEONATOLOGY IN THE BEEHIVE STATE

Utah is one of the youngest and fastest-growing states in the nation, with one of the highest birth rates in the country.

Neonatal care here is organized as a regional system: community special care nurseries and Level III NICUs along the Wasatch Front and in southern Utah are supported by Primary Children’s Hospital, the state’s Level IV referral center, which serves families from across the Intermountain West from campuses in Salt Lake City and Lehi.

NEONATAL CARE IN UTAH

Levels of care

Units are listed using the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Levels of Neonatal Care framework, as reported by each hospital.

Level IV

Regional NICU

The highest level of care: full neonatal intensive care plus on-site pediatric surgical and medical subspecialty care for the most complex conditions.

Level III

Neonatal intensive care

Provides the full range of neonatal intensive care, including mechanical ventilation and care of the smallest preterm infants.

Level II

Special care nursery

Cares for moderately preterm or ill infants close to home, with transport to a higher level of care when needed.

Level IV Primary Children’s Hospital

LEVEL IV NICU

Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, Salt Lake City

Primary Children’s is a free-standing children’s hospital and Utah’s only Level IV NICU (approximately 50 beds). It is the regional referral center for Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming, one of the largest geographic service areas of any children’s hospital in the United States (roughly 400,000 square miles).

  • Neonatal ECMO and advanced respiratory support (high-frequency ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide)
  • Surgical care for congenital anomalies such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia, gastroschisis, and esophageal atresia, with neurosurgery, cardiothoracic, otolaryngology, urology, and ophthalmology services
  • Therapeutic hypothermia and neurocritical care, genetics, and neonatal palliative care
  • Multidisciplinary programs for infants with chronic respiratory failure and intestinal failure

Visit Primary Children’s – Salt Lake City →

LEVEL IV SYSTEM · UTAH COUNTY

Primary Children’s Hospital – Lehi, Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus

Opened in February 2024, the Miller Family Campus is Primary Children’s second hospital, built to bring pediatric specialty care closer to families in fast-growing Utah County and the southern Wasatch Front. It operates as part of Primary Children’s Hospital alongside the Salt Lake City campus.

  • Neonatal intensive care with neonatal surgical services, with six additional NICU rooms coming online in 2026
  • Pediatric intensive care, five operating suites, and advanced imaging
  • A 19-bay pediatric emergency department with trauma services
  • Pediatric subspecialty clinics, including feeding and swallowing, medical genetics, palliative care, and pulmonology

Visit Primary Children’s – Lehi →

Level III Neonatal intensive care units

Select a hospital name to visit its website.

University of Utah Hospital

Salt Lake City

University of Utah Health

Intermountain Medical Center

Murray

Intermountain Health

St. Mark’s Hospital

Millcreek

MountainStar Healthcare

Holy Cross Hospital – Jordan Valley

West Jordan

CommonSpirit Health

Holy Cross Hospital – Davis

Layton

CommonSpirit Health

McKay-Dee Hospital

Ogden

Intermountain Health

Ogden Regional Medical Center

Ogden

MountainStar Healthcare

Timpanogos Regional Hospital

Orem

MountainStar Healthcare

Utah Valley Hospital

Provo

Intermountain Health

St. George Regional Hospital

St. George

Intermountain Health

Level II Special care nurseries

Community special care nurseries keep moderately preterm and convalescing infants close to home, with transport to a Level III or IV unit when a higher level of care is needed.

NORTHERN UTAH

SALT LAKE VALLEY

UTAH COUNTY

UINTAH BASIN & SOUTHERN UTAH

Please note: This list may not include every neonatal unit in Utah. Levels of care, services, hospital names, and websites change over time, and levels shown are as reported by each hospital rather than a state designation. Please contact a hospital directly to confirm its current neonatal services.

Neonatal units in Utah by level of care, with a detail view of the Wasatch Front.

TRANSPORT, TRAINING & COLLABORATION

Connecting newborns across a vast region

Neonatal transport

Utah’s geography (mountain passes, high desert, and long distances between rural hospitals and tertiary centers) makes neonatal transport central to regional care. Dedicated neonatal transport teams move infants by ground ambulance, helicopter, and fixed-wing aircraft across Utah and neighboring states.

Education & research

Quality improvement

LIFE IN UTAH

Perfect powder, rugged red rock, alpine lakes, and more

Utah is home to five national parks, the “Mighty 5”: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion.

Arches National Park

Delicate Arch

Bryce Canyon National Park

Hoodoos after a winter storm

Capitol Reef National Park

Cassidy Arch

Zion National Park

Red rock peaks in winter

Monument Valley

Southeastern Utah

Slickrock hiking

Arches National Park

8

national monuments, including Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Natural Bridges

10

ski resorts within an hour of Salt Lake City International Airport

2034

Salt Lake City hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Beyond the parks, Utah has eight national monuments (Bears Ears, Cedar Breaks, Dinosaur, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, Rainbow Bridge, and Timpanogos Cave), two national recreation areas (Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon), national forest land across the Ashley, Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-La Sal, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache, Caribou-Targhee, and Sawtooth National Forests, and dozens of state parks. Sports fans can cheer on the Utah Jazz (NBA), Utah Mammoth (NHL), Real Salt Lake (MLS), and Utah Royals (NWSL).

Winter

World-class skiing in the Wasatch

Summer

Wildflower hikes in the high Wasatch

High country

Alpine lakes within an easy drive

Fall

Golden meadows in the Uintas

DID YOU KNOW?

Fun facts about Utah

🕊️

The state bird is the California gull. The Seagull Monument on Temple Square commemorates the “miracle of the gulls” of 1848, when gulls devoured the crickets destroying the pioneers’ first crops.

🍮

Jell-O is Utah’s official state snack, and the sugar beet is the state historic vegetable.

🐝

Utah’s nickname, the Beehive State, reflects the state motto, “Industry.” The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.

HELPFUL LINKS

Plan a visit or learn more

D8SONPM · District VIII Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine · Utah

Photo credits: Zion sunset, Zach Betten (CC0); Zion peaks, Tyson Dudley (CC0); Bryce Canyon, Emanuel Hahn (CC0); Utah State Capitol, Zac Nielson (CC0); Monument Valley, Dawn Armfield (CC0); newborn, Mindy Olson (CC0); newborn feet, Janko Ferlič (CC0); Delicate Arch, National Park Service (public domain); Cassidy Arch, NPS / D. Popovic (public domain); Uinta Mountains, USDA Forest Service Intermountain Region (public domain); Little Cottonwood Canyon, Baileypalblue (public domain). All via Wikimedia Commons. Additional photos courtesy of District VIII members. NICU map is an original graphic.