Salt Lake City, Utah — HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division — known locally and across Utah as MountainStar Healthcare — today announced its participation in a national collaboration between the HCA Healthcare Foundation and Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) focused on championing positive mental wellness for girls and families. The initiative is supported through the HCA Healthcare Foundation’s Healthier Tomorrow Fund and includes a $25,000 investment in Girl Scouts of Utah as part of a broader $250,000 initiative supporting collaborative mental wellness programming between Girl Scout councils and HCA Healthcare divisions nationwide throughout 2026 and 2027.
The collaboration builds on the HCA Healthcare Foundation’s longstanding support of GSUSA and will continue deployment of the national Mental Wellness Patch Program developed alongside HCA Healthcare behavioral health experts and in collaboration with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Through this initiative, Girl Scouts of Utah will receive funding to support locally tailored mental wellness activations focused on helping girls build resilience, confidence, and connection at a time when research shows increasing levels of anxiety, sadness, and hopelessness among young women nationwide.
“Supporting positive mental wellness for young people is critical to building healthier tomorrows,” said Dr. Sara Kelly, Division Chief Medical Officer of HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division. “We are proud to partner with Girl Scouts of Utah to help create safe, engaging spaces where girls can build confidence, strengthen resilience, and feel supported as they navigate life’s challenges.”
Planned Utah-based activations will center around Girl Scouts’ Grow Your Glow event, a statewide mental wellness summit and celebration taking place in September. The initiative will be open to Girl Scouts across Utah — including their more than 8,326 members statewide — as well as newly recruited members. Participating troops will also receive HCA-branded “Badge in a Box” experience kits, which include materials and activities designed to help girls continue mental wellness conversations and programming within their local troops.
“Girl Scouts of Utah is dedicated to building girls of courage, confidence, and character, and that commitment requires us to continue evolving alongside the needs of girls today. Through this partnership with HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division, we are meeting the needs of girls today by providing practical tools to strengthen resilience, navigate fears and anxieties, and build meaningful connections with trusted adults and peers, all in service of supporting their mental health,” said Lisa Hardin-Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Utah. “We are especially excited that this initiative will extend beyond one event, equipping Girl Scouts across Utah with resources they can use year-round to continue important conversations about mental wellness in their own communities.”
Research continues to show increasing mental health challenges among girls and young women nationwide, creating an opportunity for community organizations to work together in support of youth mental wellness. Through this partnership, the HCA Healthcare Foundation anticipates reaching thousands of girls and families while helping local councils tailor programming to meet the needs of their communities.
This partnership will also create year-round opportunities for colleague engagement through volunteerism, healthcare career exploration, media literacy, and community service activities. One early example took place in April, when Girl Scouts of Utah’s statewide Give Back Day aligned with HCA Healthcare’s We Show Up® Month of Service — bringing together the scale and reach of both organizations across multiple Mountain Division hospitals to help address food insecurity in local communities.
For more information visit Girl Scouts of Utah's website.
For more information visit the HCA Healthcare Foundation.