Intermountain Healthcare is an integrated, nonprofit health system based in Salt Lake City, Utah, serving the healthcare needs of people across the Intermountain West and beyond. The organization focuses on providing high-quality care that is accessible and affordable to all as it works to fulfill its mission of helping people live the healthiest lives possible. Intermountain’s operations include clinics, affiliate networks, hospitals, home care, telehealth, health insurance plans, and other services, along with wholly owned subsidiaries, including SelectHealth, Saltzer Health, Castell, Tellica, and Classic Air Medical.
Intermountain proudly employs more than 59,000 individuals across seven core states and even more, thanks to remote work. Fulfilling its mission starts with a stable foundation, a living wage job, and educational support for employees to help them advance in their lives and careers. Almost 75% of its workforce identifies as female. Intermountain offers flexible work arrangements and innovative programs to build careers and increase the representation of women in all levels of leadership.
“I joined Intermountain in 2000 and had a successful leadership journey but couldn’t have gotten here without the support from mentors and the organization,” said Heather Brace, Intermountain’s chief people officer. “As a first-generation graduate and working mom of two teenage boys, I’ve taken advantage of Intermountain’s policies like tuition reimbursement, daycare, mentoring, and leadership development. I know first-hand how an organization can shape and support an employee’s ambitions and goals—especially female employees.”
Over the past five years, Intermountain has implemented new programs or policies to support women in the workplace and to create a more inclusive environment for women and families.
These are some of the benefits the company offers.
Flexwork
Flexwork is the organization’s remote work strategy, allowing employees who can complete their job in a remote environment to work from home, in the office, or a hybrid of both arrangements. This strategic choice meets the needs of employees and improves their well-being while allowing Intermountain to be more competitive, expand recruiting, retain talented caregivers, and reduce our carbon footprint. Women comprise 60% of the Flexwork population.
Family-Friendly Benefits
Intermountain continues to implement new family-friendly benefit offerings for its employees. For example, the company expanded infertility coverage for employees in Utah and Idaho by increasing the coverage to $10,000 (e.g., assisted reproductive technologies such as AI/IUI/IVF, male infertility treatments, and fertility medications). Additionally, it offers parental leave, which is 100% income paid at an employee’s base hourly rate for five weeks when an employee gives birth, their spouse gives birth, or an adoption or foster care arrangement is finalized.
Child Development Centers
Intermountain has six childcare locations which they refer to as Child Development Centers. Five of the centers are located on hospital campuses.
“Both of my boys started at Utah Valley’s Child Development Center when they were three months old,” said Megan Johnson, a registered nurse and nurse administrator at the Spanish Fork hospital. “It was comforting to know the staff had my boys’ best interest in mind and loved my kids just as much as I do. Having such an amazing place to care for my boys meant I could go to work and give 100%.”
Women in Leadership Program
Intermountain offers a Women in Leadership program that provides chosen female applicants with personal growth experiences, individualized mentoring, and an experiential learning project for career development. It is a six-month program that offers graduates mentorship for one year after they complete the program. Mentors are both male and female senior leaders within the organization. The Women in Leadership program is open to women with two or more years of experience as Intermountain leaders, physicians, or Advanced Practice Providers. Many of the female leaders in senior-level roles have come from this program.
Currently, Intermountain is running its 13th cohort of Women in Leadership. Since 2018, the company graduated over 200 female leaders.
The company also supports 15-20 women every year to attend the Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI) program and participates in the Elevate Her Challenge (sponsored by the WLI program).
PEAK Program
Intermountain partnered with InStride, an education company, to offer upfront tuition coverage for online undergraduate studies, high school diplomas, and professional skills and certificates from top-rated schools — locally and nationally. The Path to Education and Knowledge (PEAK) program provides equitable access to education for all employees. This benefit can also be gifted to an employee’s immediate dependent.
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