Gov. Cox and health care community stakeholders gathered at the Capitol to celebrate a collective commitment to statewide goals that will make Utah the national leader in cost-efficient, innovative health care.
“Addressing the cost of health care has become an economic imperative,” Gov. Cox said. “Failure to do so will stunt Utah’s economic growth by constraining employer profits, decreasing employee wages, and crowding out other state spending priorities. But in Utah, we solve problems, and we will solve this problem before it is solved for us by heavy-handed federal policy. Let’s come together and find solutions that work for our state.”
The effort is driven by the One Utah Health Collaborative, a community-owned nonprofit 501(c)(3) launched by Gov. Cox last fall that aims to transform health care in Utah. Gov. Cox announced the nonprofit organization’s leadership, including a board of directors (Chairman of the Board Ryan Morley, Rita Aguilar, Rebecca Benally, Marc Bennett, RyLee Curtis, and Jeremy Keele) and a new executive director, Jaime Wissler. Wissler is a seasoned public servant with 25 years of experience coordinating with industry partners, and local, state, and federal governments.
As part of the ceremony, Gov. Cox committed to three goals related to Medicaid. Representatives from Intermountain Healthcare, Flying J. Management, and University of Utah Health joined him at the podium to share organization commitments that will be accomplished within their own spheres including increases in access to behavioral health care for Intermountain Healthcare patients, expanding the scope of the University of Utah Medical Group’s innovative Intensive Outpatient Clinic, and an internal proactive health and wellness support program for Maverik employees by Flying J Management.
