Intermountain Riverton Hospital.

• Position: SALT LAKE AREA - Brief article

Riverton -- INTERMOUNTAIN RIVERTON HOSPITAL opened last month. In addition to physical healing, the hospital will bring economic health in the form of jobs, retail business and real estate sales to Salt Lake County's southwest valley.

"This is the most important construction project ever in Riverton," says Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth. "I remember a time around 1975 when we were holding dance fundraisers to support our local volunteer ambulance service."

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The new INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE facility will inject 700 jobs into the local economy, Applegarth says, and is already boosting the area's real estate market. With its state-of-the-art equipment, highly-trained personnel and broad range of services from pediatrics to 24-hour emergency services, the hospital greatly surpasses the economic impact of any medical service the city has ever hosted, the mayor says.

"Forty-five percent of our...