A Utah State of Mind (Salt Lake City, Provo: home, living, friendly)

[celestial74]

Hey all -

I've been thinking about starting over in UT for a while and have enjoyed reading all the treads about the different areas (incl. the not so stellar reviews...it's all important to hear, IMO)

I am LDS, though no where near Molly or psycho TBM. I definitely consider myself a misfit Mormon (LDS with a deep love of and connection to Catholicism, am tattooed, am qu33r-friendly, am an occasional gamer, all that "scary alt stuff" *grin*)

Currently I'm a CNA at a state-funded psych hospital, and would like to continue doing similar work (NOT at a nursing home, though) Is there a state Hospital in UT? I also have experience doing community support and such for adults with severe DD and would go back to something similiar in a heart beat. What are some of the best programs out there?

I'm not really interested in *living* in Salt Lake City, and would prefer to consider something more medium sized (25k - 40k people). Proximity to a temple is a bonus (not hard in UT, ha!)

Tips? Advice? Where's a stealthy Alt chick with a deep love of the Elderly and Developmentally Disabled folks to go?

Thanks! Off to go read more

Jess

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

The State Hospital is at Provo, and the state dev disabled home is near there, not sure exactly where.

[Trail Lawyer]

The State Hospital is against the mountain on the East side of Provo (far east end of Center Street, right next to a large waterpark). With the hospital being in Provo, it is not too far from the Provo Temple (also in eastern Provo). My mom works at this hospital and enjoys it.

The State Adult Developmental Center is in American Fork. It is actually just down the street from the American Fork Temple (between American Fork and Highland). My sister-in-law formerly worked here and really enjoyed it.

The Utah County Metro area is about 400,000 people. If you want a city that is about 40,000 you could live in American Fork, but all the cities in Utah County have pretty much grown together into one large metro (same in Salt Lake County). If you want to live in Utah County, I would suggest Provo for the lifestyle you want (still hard to do). Orem is a great place to live (where I grew up), but Provo overall will be more receptive to the lifestyle you want, even though it will still be difficult even in Provo.

[US-Traveller]

Will you consider working for Intermountain or IASIS? They probably have opportunities in the Salt Lake Valley or Utah Valley that might suit your interests.

[MrAnderson]

How about Logan? 48,000 and a pioneer-built temple in close proximity. My aunt is a nurse there and works at Logan Regional Hospital.