Healthcare heroes.

• Position: Cover story

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The Beehive State is known for its incredible healthcare, for its stellar treatment facilities, breakthrough research and healthcare professionals who go above and beyond the call of duty. Here, we've collected some of the standouts in Utah's healthcare industry, from doctors nearing the end of long, impactful careers to professionals making strides to build the future of medical care, and from administrators finding ways to help their facilities run smoother to volunteers with an irrepressible passion for helping others. Join us in thanking them for their dogged efforts to make Utah a healthier place to live.

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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

For more than 40 years--from the day he was hired as an intern onward--DR. MARK M ACKAY has worked tirelessly to make sure babies born or brought for care at Primary Children's Hospital are given the best start, nutritionally speaking, they can have. MacKay's early work started in the hospital's pharmacy, untangling a problem with intravenous feeding and how amino acids affected the solubility of calcium and phosphate. MacKay proposed giving the maximum concentration of the nutrients, and results of the year-long research and eventual national publication of the findings earned MacKay a permanent place at the hospital--and changed how intravenous feeding was done across the country.

The last four decades have been busy, with more than 50 published articles about intravenous feeding and research, as well as 54 national presentations. More recent research has involved developing an intravenous zinc product for children with zinc deficiencies, as well as successfully petitioning for the import of a European product to help with calcium absorption in intravenous feeding, despite criticism from others in the industry.

MacKay says he views challenges as opportunities to find new solutions--and once he does, he says, he believes in sharing the outcome with others asking the same questions.

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It takes five different job titles to keep DR. STEPHEN MINTON busy--and that's after more than 40 years of helping transform the way Utah cares for babies.

More than 30,000 babies have been treated at the NICU at Utah Valley Hospital--the first non-university NICU in the country--since Minton opened it in 1979, and for which he was the lone neonatalologist for six years. Minton is medical director of the NICU at Utah Valley Hospital, as well as medical director of the Neonatal Life Flight and chief of neonatology there.

In addition, Minton is medical director of Newborn Services for Intermountain Healthcare's Timpanogos Region, which includes seven facilities, and member of Intermountain Healthcare's Women and Newborn Clinical Program. Minton is also a researcher for the Neonatal Research Network through the University of Utah. Minton says the healthcare industry in Utah is facing a period of transformation in how it functions and how it is financed.

"Healthcare is at a crossroads. We have made tremendous improvements--cutting mortality and reducing morbidities. However, as currently delivered, it is very costly. In addition, people are just beginning to take ownership of their health," he says. "Healthcare has been acute care, not preventative care."

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Being a physician, for DR. JOHN R. HOIDAL, is not just his profession--it's who he is. He has been with the University of Utah since 1987, where he was the chief of the Division of Respiratory, Critical Care & Occupational (Pulmonary) Medicine for 20 years. He has held multiple positions, including the chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary and chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine. As a clinician and researcher, Hoidal is tremendously respected, having been repeatedly recognized in the Best Doctors of America databases.

"You must have great desire to become a physician. The process is long and difficult," says Hoidal. "However, the opportunity to work towards a better understanding of and improve the health in our society is unrivaled. Practicing medicine has great human significance. Embrace the challenge to help people, to be challenged and to learn throughout your life."

Hoidal certainly practices what he preaches. He retired from the chairman's position in March 2016 and now focuses on his patients and research, which centers on the molecular bases and the consequences of cigarette smoking, particularly emphysema and chronic bronchitis. By gaining insights into biochemical pathways of emphysema and bronchitis and ways to modify them, Hoidal hopes to find better ways to prevent and treat smoking-related diseases.

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ADMINISTRATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARDS

When BLAIR KENT was tapped to open the new Riverton Hospital, he had already proven his ability as a member of the administrative team that opened Intermountain Medical Center. As the administrator of Riverton Hospital, Kent oversaw construction of the hospital, hired its staff, assembled a leadership team and brought the medical staff onboard.

Kent took a very hands-on approach to developing the Riverton team. Chris Rhodes, food services manager at the hospital, recalls interviewing for his position with Kent. "As I sat there in his office, I could tell in his voice that he truly wanted the best, and his whole goal was to make Riverton Hospital number one in the state of Utah," Rhodes recalls. "[Kent] is really an inspiration for me and my entire crew to strive to give 110 percent to our patients and customers."

Since the hospital opened in 2009, it has added a new 120,000-square-foot outpatient wing, as well as a 30-bed Primary Children's pediatric unit--the first satellite inpatient unit for the pediatric hospital. Riverton Hospital has become an integral part of the local community, hosting an annual community health fair and a "movie in the park" series on the hospital campus.

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Since 1998, PAULA STRASBURG has served as the director of quality and risk management at Timpanogos Regional Hospital. Under her leadership, the hospital has grown from a small facility with 46 beds to a larger institution with 124 beds and more healthcare options for patients and their families, such as a...