The University of Utah and Utah Tech University have announced a groundbreaking partnership aimed at addressing the shortage of healthcare professionals in rural and underserved areas of Utah. The proposal, presented to the Utah Legislature in January 2025, seeks to create the Southern Utah Regional Medical Campus in St. George, a collaborative effort to expand access to quality medical care for the state’s most isolated communities.
The new campus would be a crucial step in addressing what University of Utah President Taylor Randall calls the state’s “medical desert.” According to Randall, Utah ranks among the lowest in the nation for primary care providers, creating significant gaps in healthcare services, particularly in rural areas. With the legislature’s approval and funding support, the proposed medical campus aims to increase the number of trained doctors who will stay in Utah and serve in these critical regions.
New medical campus to address workforce shortages
The University of Utah has requested $10.6 million in ongoing funding to support the medical campus initiative, which would offer an accelerated three-year MD program. As reported by the Deseret News, students completing the program will be directly placed into residency opportunities with a rural health focus. This accelerated training path is designed to rapidly increase the number of doctors in underserved areas while promoting the retention of physicians within the state.
The new campus will initially enroll 10 students annually, with plans to expand to 25 in the future. The program would also involve clinical partnerships with Intermountain Health, which will provide training opportunities for students. Additionally, Intermountain Health is in discussions to establish new residency programs in southern Utah to support the campus’s growth, according to the Deseret News.
Fostering local healthcare solutions
A key element of the collaboration is ensuring that physicians trained in Utah remain in the state, especially in rural and primary care positions. Research shows that 70% of doctors who complete both medical school and residency in Utah stay in the state, a retention rate higher than the national average. This initiative builds on an already established partnership between Utah Tech and the University of Utah, which currently runs a physician assistant program in its seventh year.
The proposal highlights a shared commitment by both universities to meet the state’s growing healthcare demands, focusing on long-term solutions for the rural communities most in need.
