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Dixie Regional Medical Center to Grow Through Sorenson Legacy Foundation Gift

Dixie Regional Medical Center to Grow Through Sorenson Legacy Foundation Gift

Published 02-01-06

Submitted by Sorenson Legacy Foundation

ST. GEORGE, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2006--Sorenson Legacy Foundation

-- $2 Million Contribution Will Expand the Southern Utah Hospital's
Heart and Lung Center into State-of-the-Art Facility. Gift is One
of the Two Largest Donations the Hospital Has Ever Received and
Brings Recent Donations to Intermountain Healthcare by the
Sorenson Legacy Foundation to $16 Million

Intermountain Healthcare announced today the Sorenson Legacy Foundation has donated $2 million to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George to expand and develop its heart and lung center. The gift is one of the two largest donations ever received by the hospital from a private source.

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation gift will enable Dixie Regional to develop its heart and lung center into a world-class facility offering all of the advanced cardiovascular medical care available in major U.S. cities, which is important because treatment of critically ill heart patients close to home saves both lives and resources. As the only major medical facility between Utah County and Las Vegas, Dixie Regional serves a rapidly growing population with a large proportion of people older than 55. Since opening the heart and lung center in 2003, the hospital has performed more than 700 open-heart surgeries, far exceeding the center's projections. In addition, Dixie Regional's open-heart program has achieved the best outcomes in the Intermountain healthcare system.

"We are very grateful for this generous contribution," said Terri Kane, Dixie Regional's administrator. "It will lead southern Utah into a new era of advanced medical practice, radically reducing the impact of heart and lung disease. Most importantly, it will enhance healthcare in our tri-state region for generations." The expanded heart and lung center will be named the J. L. Sorenson Heart and Lung Center at Dixie Regional Medical Center in honor of James LeVoy Sorenson, renowned biomedical entrepreneur.

Dixie's heart and lung center is the first of its kind in Utah beyond the Wasatch Front, where its sister program at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake, another Intermountain Healthcare facility, has won broad acclaim in the global medical community. In 2003, the Sorenson Legacy Foundation donated $14 million to the new medical center Intermountain is building in Murray, Utah, that will replace LDS Hospital as Intermountain's flagship medical facility. The technologically advanced and patient-friendly Intermountain Medical Center will house the world's most advanced heart and lung treatment center when it opens in 2007.

"I'm very pleased to contribute to this important expansion of Dixie Regional Medical Center," said James LeVoy Sorenson. "Intermountain has great leadership and their medical network continually provides superb healthcare to our community." Sorenson invented and produced many medical devices that are standard equipment in healthcare today. He is known foremost for developing the first computerized heart monitoring system. Among his other inventions are the disposable paper surgical mask, the plastic venous catheter and the first blood recycling system for trauma and surgical procedures.

About Dixie Regional Medical Center

Dixie Regional Medical Center is a 245-bed hospital located on two campuses -- River Road and 400 East. Dixie Regional is the major medical referral center for northwestern Arizona, southeastern Nevada and southern Utah. The hospital is fully accredited by JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) and is a service of Intermountain Healthcare, a nonprofit healthcare system serving the Intermountain West.

About Sorenson Legacy Foundation

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation is a non-profit corporation established by the James LeVoy Sorenson family for the exclusive purpose of promoting charitable, religious, educational, literary, and scientific endeavors. The Foundation is qualified under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Copyright Business Wire 2006

Sorenson Legacy Foundation

Sorenson Legacy Foundation

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