Intermountain Health has opened a new cancer center at Park City Hospital, giving Wasatch Back residents local access to radiation therapy, infusion treatment, and clinical trials that previously required a nearly 100-mile roundtrip commute down Parleys Canyon to Salt Lake Valley facilities. The 10,800-square-foot center is now equipped to treat up to 1,500 patients annually and is expected to handle roughly 90 percent of all cancer care cases across the region.
According to a news release detailed by Healthcare Design, the new facility includes an advanced linear accelerator for radiation treatment, 18 infusion bays, dedicated medical oncology rooms for telehealth, and genetic counseling. The center also offers hematology services, oncology nutrition support, high-risk cancer prevention screening, and access to Phase 1 clinical trials. Previously, patients enduring two-month radiation regimens had to make that Parleys Canyon drive nearly every day, according to KPCW.
A Long-Planned Expansion Finally Opens
The project traces back to a groundbreaking on June 12, 2025, when Intermountain Health broke ground on the cancer center alongside associated emergency and surgical department expansions, per an announcement from Intermountain Health. Hospital leaders said at the time that the opening would grow infusion treatment capacity from four dedicated bays to 18, more than doubling the physical footprint of the former 5,000-square-foot cancer unit, the station's earlier report noted.
The broader $50 million hospital expansion, which incorporates the cancer center, also includes a nearly 9,000-square-foot emergency department enlargement featuring four new trauma bays, two surgical suites, two endoscopy rooms, and in-house PET/CT imaging capabilities. Intermountain Health funded the construction alongside additional support from community donors, as part of a multi-stage initiative to increase medical acuity across the Wasatch Back.
Why Summit County Needed This
The investment lines up with a stark local health pattern. Summit County recorded a melanoma incidence rate of 60.7 cases per 100,000 residents between 2018 and 2020, the second-highest rate in Utah and more than double the national average, according to the Summit County Health Department. High elevation and intense solar exposure are cited as key drivers of that elevated risk.
Yet the county has also posted better cancer outcomes overall than most of Utah. From 2020 to 2022, Summit County Local Health District maintained the state's lowest age-adjusted overall cancer mortality rate at 88.4 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to a statewide average of 114.0 per 100,000, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. The new center's radiation and infusion capacity is designed to close the gap between that low mortality rate and the county's outsized skin cancer burden by keeping specialized treatment close to home.
A Hospital That Has Grown Sevenfold
Intermountain Park City Hospital opened on September 15, 2009, with roughly 100 medical staff members. By September 2024, that workforce had grown sevenfold to more than 700 employees, KPCW reported in coverage of the hospital's 15th anniversary. The cancer center marks the latest step in that expansion, following years in which the hospital added intensive care and specialized oncology services it lacked at launch.
Intermountain Health, based in Salt Lake City, operates a network of 33 hospitals and more than 400 clinics across Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, according to the health system. The nonprofit has been expanding oncology and infusion services elsewhere in its territory too, including a new 90,000-square-foot clinic in Las Vegas and a multi-specialty center in Henderson, Nevada. Hoodline has also reported on Intermountain Health clinicians raising concerns about rising colorectal cancer cases among younger Utahns statewide.
