The Big Picture
Children who experience trauma or the death of a loved one often carry that pain into every part of life — at home, in school, and in relationships. While grief is a natural response, without the right support it can increase the risk of long-term challenges, including depression, post-traumatic stress, substance use, and even suicide.
Across the country, children’s hospitals are working to close this gap by standardizing how they identify trauma and bereavement needs and by expanding access to evidence-based care. Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Hospital is now at the forefront of that effort.
What’s Happening
Intermountain Children’s Health and Primary Children’s Hospital campuses in Salt Lake City, Lehi, and Taylorsville have earned designation as the first Trauma and Grief (TAG) Network member in the Western United States — and the fourth in the nation.
The TAG Network is led by the Trauma and Grief Center (TAG Center) at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in Dallas, Texas. The network brings together children’s hospitals committed to a shared approach: standardized assessment tools, best-practice interventions, and ongoing training and consultation to ensure care is delivered consistently and effectively.
This milestone is supported by a major investment from the New York Life Foundation, which is backing the network’s long-term work to strengthen how healthcare systems respond to trauma and loss.
As part of this new partnership, a multidisciplinary team of Intermountain Children’s Health therapists has completed specialized training in Multidimensional Grief Therapy (MGT) — the nation’s only evidence-based intervention designed specifically for bereaved children.
Why It Matters
In Utah, about 1 in 15 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. For many families, grief and trauma can show up as “normal” medical or behavioral concerns — and the underlying cause can be hard to recognize without the right screening and support.
TAG Network membership reflects a longstanding commitment at Primary Children’s Hospital to trauma-informed care, including:
- Decades of evidence-based trauma-focused interventions through the Center for Safe and Healthy Families
- Training more than 1,000 therapists across Intermountain Children’s Health and the Intermountain West
- A nationally recognized Care Process Model for Pediatric Traumatic Stress that supports screening during well-child visits and connection to behavioral health services when needed
By bringing structured, grief-specific therapy into the care continuum — alongside established trauma-focused services — Intermountain is strengthening the support available to children and families navigating some of life’s hardest moments.
The Bottom Line
The Trauma and Grief (TAG) Network designation is more than an honor — it’s a commitment to ensuring children who experience trauma or loss get timely, evidence-based care that helps them heal.
Families looking for grief-focused or trauma-focused therapy resources can contact:
- Intermountain Primary Children’s Center for Safe and Healthy Families: 801-662-3606
- Primary Children’s Assessment, Referral and Consultation Services (ARCS) line: 385-478-2400z