Eccles Primary Children’s Outpatient Center Tour

(photo credit: IamSimplyJune)

Last night I had the pleasure of joining some of Utah's top bloggers for a tour of the new Eccles Primary Children's Outpatient Medical Center.

(photo credit: AshleyMarieCakes)

This new state-of-the-art facility is amazing and will add about 200,000 square feet of much needed space to their over crowded facility, which will allow for expansion of other critical areas in the hospital. It has 6 levels and will have 41 departments, that include Cardiology, Behavioral Health, Endocrinology/Diabetes, Lab Services and more. They even thought to put a fantastic expedited prescription filling service, that works much like a banks tubular drive up teller system, in the building.

During my tour, our guide, Bonnie, asked how many of us had either been, or had a child that had been, treated at Primary Children's and almost every hand was raised. I myself, spent a good part of two years of my childhood at the hospital, that was initially located in the Avenues back in the 1960's. I can still recall the sensitivity of the staff that played such an important roll in my young life.

(photo credit: Intermountain Healthcare)

Thanks to the generosity of our Utah community, he hospital has come a long way since it's humble beginning in 1922. The new building is located directly across the street (west) of the current hospital. The two buildings are connected with a beautiful sky bridge that goes across Mario Capecchi Drive. The view is amazing! Trax has a stop right out front and there is a large parking lot.

(photo credit: LivingTheScream)

CEO Katy Welkie, who was inspired by bloggers social skills to send out her first Tweet, explained that the primary function of the new building is to serve patients who visit Primary Children’s for outpatient services and clinics as part of their care.

Our tour started with a dinner that included sirloin, beautiful potato croquettes, roasted vegetables and tasty sorbet made by the chefs of the new cafeteria. The Sweet Tooth Fairy even provided us with some of their fabulous Cake Bites. It was a meal fit for dignitaries and I felt quite honored to be a part of it.

As we toured the facility, I learned a lot about the hospital services. The staff has worked hard to provide a comfortable and healing environment not only for children but for their families too.

From the tiny waiting room furniture, a playroom designated for siblings, so that parents can focus on the care of their child during treatment, to the well thought out common areas, that include festive lighting, floor and wall decorations and playful well placed toys, it was clear the goal of the designers, was to make healing as comfortable as possible.

Perhaps the thing that stuck me the most, was the genuine caring for children and family attitude, and the pride in their work, that every staff member I spoke with radiated. The Primary Children's motto, “The Child First and Always” was clearly not just something they said, but a way of life for them.

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Thanks to Primary Children's Hospital with the help of Today's Mama for hosting this awesome tour event. I am a better person for it. And, high 5 goes to the sponsors, that supplied us with a goodie bags, Sprouts Farmers Market, The Sweet Tooth Fairy, Discovery Gateway, The Natural History Museum of Utah, and The Leonardo. 

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