Utah
Utah suicide rates twice national average, Summit County Health Department says
Summit County Health Director Phil Bondurant said the early 2026 survey found men are suffering with significant mental and behavioral health challenges between the ages of 10 and 44. In the U.S., Bondurant said, suicide is the second leading cause of death, behind unintentional injury.
“It’s the eighth leading cause of death nationally across all ages of men,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” June 8. “When we look at this in Utah, we are two times the national average in suicides, and when you look at men, three of the four suicides in the state of Utah are men.”
He said that’s disproportionate to women. Roughly 31 out of 100,000 suicide deaths in Utah are men while less than 9 deaths per 100,000 are women.
FULL INTERIVEW: Summit County Health Department Phil Bondurant
Bondurant said those statistics are related to men feeling isolated, experiencing depression and uncertainty about the future. But, he said the health department has worked to develop programs to break the stigma around men’s mental health and help people access care.
“It’s important that we remember that connection, conversation, help and support, just like our physical health, when we’re not feeling well or we break a bone, we go to the doctor, and they do what they do to help us get better and help our bodies mend,” he said. “Our mental health is the same way, we need to take care of it.”
He said uninsured residents that need help can call the health department and speak with the behavioral health team.
There is also a 24-hour 988 crisis hotline for people who need help or know someone who needs help. Utahns can also download the SafeUT app to speak with licensed counselors, submit safety tips and confidential help.
The state of Utah has revoked the license of a boarding school where socialite Paris Hilton said she was abused as a teen, saying the school “failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients.” The state’s action, which took effect Monday, cites multiple noncompliance issues against the Provo Canyon School’s campus in Springville, reports the AP. The school has 15 days to request a hearing before the Department of Health & Human Services. The wide-ranging citations, which go back to 2025, include failing to increase staff-to-client ratios, engaging in unnecessary restraint and aggressive physical contact with a client, neglecting care, and not verifying employee information or submitting background checks for applicants in a timely manner.
“For more than fifty years, children came forward with stories of abuse, neglect, and trauma,” Hilton said in a statement provided Tuesday. “Today, the state confirmed what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care. I was one of those children. I know what it feels like to cry for help and believe no one is coming. Today, children still inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them.” Hilton, the hotel heiress and media personality, spent almost a year at the school in the late 1990s. She alleges staff members beat her, watched her shower, fed her unknown pills, and locked her in solitary confinement without clothing.
Hilton, 45, called on Utah regulators to shut down the school. She has testified about her experiences there in Congress and state legislatures around the US, helping pass laws to protect teens in Utah and 15 other states. Utah has long played an outsized role in the troubled teen industry, a network of private, for-profit residential centers for children with behavioral issues. In June, Hilton returned to the school to speak in support of two families who filed lawsuits alleging their children were mistreated there. The school is under new ownership. The administration has said it can’t comment on anything that came before the change, including Hilton’s time there. Provo Canyon School did not immediately respond to an AP email seeking comment. The state said in its letter that all services at the campus must be terminated by Aug. 6.
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ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — Gov. Spencer Cox’s executive order imposing a temporary statewide ban on fireworks has expired, leaving state officials to decide what restrictions, if any, will be in place for Pioneer Day on July 24.
The statewide ban expired July 5. State and unincorporated county areas remain under Type 2 fire restrictions, which prohibit fireworks and open flames. Cities are responsible for setting their own restrictions.
“I think going into Pioneer Day, the restrictions are going to have to be what they were for the Fourth of July,” said Jason Bradley, director of emergency management for Washington County. “Nothing’s changing. The fuels are still what they are. Everything is super dry.”
Bradley said the fireworks restrictions were “very successful” in Washington County, with no significant wildfires started. However, he said there were still violations that caused house fires and property damage.
MORE | Fireworks
“There were plenty of violations. I saw dozens and dozens of calls throughout the night,” he said. “Our dispatch was inundated with people calling saying, ‘Hey, people are starting fireworks in my neighborhood.’ There’s only a few areas where that was allowed.”
Bradley said it is a “very tough political call” to tighten restrictions for cities and the state.
“Those leaderships have a lot at stake. There’s a lot of commerce that’s at stake. Your political folks understand the financial ramifications for vendors of fireworks, and they understand our desires as really the citizens of America that we want to do that,” he said. “But there are other safer ways to celebrate this year. The problem is so bad right now that I see the leadership, the political leadership, needing to do something like that again for the 24th.”
Bradley said officials are exploring alternatives for Pioneer Day, including a designated area where people could legally use fireworks.
“We’re hoping that we could come up with a location for the county for unincorporated areas that we might be able to allow those people to come do fireworks. It’s in the works. We just want to try to have somewhere for folks to do it besides just a few parks here in St. George,” he said. “But again, we’re pretty dry. Those efforts could fall through. We’re going to see if we can’t come up with something.”
Bradley added that even a single fire can divert resources needed to patrol for fireworks violations, making enforcement difficult. He said anyone who causes a fire can be held criminally, civilly and financially liable for the damage.
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