96 South Main Street, PO Box 77, Nephi, Utah 84648 - Voice: 435 623-0525 - FAX: 435 623-4735

On our front page this week

  • County Commissioners would like to sell the old hospital


By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent

The old hospital in Nephi is not doing anyone any good just sitting empty and so Juab County Commissioners are seeking to dispose of the building.

Neil Cook, commissioner, said he had contacted trade schools and colleges to see if any of them were interested in the property as an outreach school but that had not been successful.

"No one has any money," said Cook.

Commissioners have discussed other uses for the building but no one has been interested in it, to date. The uses commissioners have considered have not appealed to those they have contacted.

"If the county wants to get rid of the building we should advertise it for sale,"said Cook. "If we advertise it for sale, maybe somebody might see a use that we don't see."

"When we advertise it for sale," said Robert Steele, commissioner, "we should include in the advertisement the zone the building is located in the city so we are up front about the possible uses in that zone."

The county has been maintaining the grounds so that the building would continue to look good. However, agreed commissioners, the building did need to be sold.

"It will just go downhill," said Cook.

The earliest section of the hospital opened in the Spring of 1952. The approximate coast was $180,000 with the county, the state and the federal government all paying one-third of the cost.

In November 1961, a new wing, costing $110,000 was added on the west side of the building. The capacity went from 14 to 27 beds.

In February 1974 a well-equipped laboratory and x-ray room were added at a cost of $70,000.

Another medical addition, the former doctor's office building, was added to the hospital proper and it is now being used to house a head start preschool.

The hospital was remodeled one more time, during the early 1980s, before the new medical facility, the Central Utah Medical Center, was built on the north west of Nephi.

Since it was constructed in 1952, the building has been the property of Juab County.

The newest medical facility on the old hospital property, a doctor's office facility, is now owned by the Juab School District and serves as the district office building.