For Immediate Release Contact:Daron Cowley801-442-2834[email protected]
MEDICAL SERVICES READY FOR THE 2002 WINTER OLYMPICS
Salt Lake City, Utah, December 4, 2001 -- Four years ago, Intermountain Health Care (IHC) was selected by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee to be the medical services provider for the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Since then, a team from IHC has been working to develop and implement a plan to deliver those medical services.
"We're ready for the Olympics," said Douglas R. Fonnesbeck, IHC Olympic liaison. "We hope most people participating in the Games or attending the competitions won't need our assistance, but if they do, we'll be there to help."
Test events held over the past year have provided an opportunity for several dress rehearsals not only for the Olympic venues, but also for the medical services plan and staff. Fonnesbeck said the tests went well, and feedback from the IOC Medical Commission has been very positive about the medical preparations.
As the medical services provider, nearly 350 IHC employees will serve as medical volunteers. IHC and its employees are donating their services for the Olympics without compensation, as part of their nonprofit mission.
IHC will staff 35 temporary medical clinics -- one for athletes and one for spectators at each of the major Olympic venues, plus several other sites -- that will provide first aid and basic care. There will also be a clinic in the Athletes Village at the University of Utah staffed by the school's medical center.
Five of IHC's hospitals are designated as Olympic Hospitals -- including LDS Hospital in Salt Lake, McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Cottonwood Hospital in Murray, Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, and Heber Valley Medical Center in Wasatch County. The University of Utah Medical Center is also an Olympic Hospital.
Emergency air ambulance services will be provided by IHC Life Flight, with five high-altitude helicopters to cover the Olympic venues and surrounding area.
In addition to providing medical care during the Olympics, IHC's Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, in Murray, Utah, has already been helping members of the U.S. speedskating, skiing, snowboarding, and bobsledding teams for several years. The teams use the hospital for training, preventive medicine, surgery, and rehabilitation. IHC is the Official Sports Science and Medicine Provider for U.S. Speedskating and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.
"We're the Olympic health care provider because this is a major community effort -- and serving the community is our mission," says IHC Senior Vice President Everett Goodwin. "Utah's guests during the Games will need a high-quality, integrated health network that covers the Wasatch Front, and no one does that better than IHC. We'll provide world-class health care for world-class athletes and other Olympic participants, just as we do every day for members of our community."
IHC is a charitable, community-owned, nonprofit health care organization based in Salt Lake City that serves the health needs of Utah and Idaho residents. The IHC system includes health insurance plans, hospitals, clinics, and affiliated physicians.
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