Drone delivery is coming to Utah through Intermountain Healthcare

Using a couple of taps on your smartphone to deploy a computer-controlled electric aircraft to whisk through the sky and drop needed supplies in your front yard is no longer a distant sci-fi fantasy.

On Tuesday, health services giant Intermountain Healthcare and San Francisco-based delivery drone innovator Zipline declared the future is now and proved it in a demonstration of new technology that is not a beta test or pilot effort. It’s a live program available now to deliver specialty medications and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals to customers in the South Jordan area.

While drone delivery service has had a foothold for years in numerous international locations, a stringent U.S. federal regulatory system has contributed to a lag in adopting the new technology domestically, and Intermountain’s program is the first of its kind west of the Mississippi, according to program officials.

For now, the service will only be available to Intermountain…