Chester River Health Foundation’s Board Chairperson, William B. Noll, announced that the Foundation Board has approved more than $1 million in disbursements over the past 18 months for capital projects and medical equipment for UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown and UM Shore Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. “This funding, which will enhance the health care experience of local patients, is in addition to the nearly $900,000 the community contributed between 2010 and 2014 toward the Emergency Department project,” Noll says.
Recent community donations totaling $168,000 funded the replacement of many surgical instruments used for orthopedic surgery, the purchase of all-new OR stretchers and the creation of a new area just outside of the operating rooms used for staff and physician pre-surgery scrubbing.
Other projects at the hospital in Chestertown being funded this year through community donations are:
- renovation of patient care areas on Two North to integrate critical care beds in the unit so that nursing care for all patients can be provided more effectively and efficiently;
- installation of wireless cell phone service in the Emergency Department and throughout most of the hospital’s first floor;
- purchase of an infant warmer and two computers for use by community EMS staff for the Emergency Department as well as several vital signs monitors for the inpatient units, the infusion clinic and pre-admission testing;
- replacement of two, roof-top air conditioning units for the Medical Services Building that were damaged during a storm;
- re-configuration of the Laboratory to reduce heat load and improve workspace flow; and,
- creation of an outpatient center inside the hospital’s main entrance to make outpatient phlebotomy and radiology testing more accessible.
“In the coming months, the Foundation will be asking for the community’s help in replacing four, high definition white light digital colonoscopes, two endoscopes and two fully-equipped digital work stations,” Noll said. “The new, state of the art equipment, which will cost approximately $182,000, will save lives by identifying colorectal and other digestive system cancers at the earliest possible stage.”
The Foundation’s mission is to raise funds that steward and enhance healthcare excellence for the people who live in or visit the communities served by UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown and UM Shore Nursing & Rehabilitation at Chestertown, thus supporting UM Shore Regional Health’s mission, ‘Creating Healthier Communities Together.’
“We are very grateful for the generous support from the community served by Shore Medical Center at Chestertown and Shore Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Gifts to the Chester River Health Foundation continue to help us improve facilities, upgrade technology and advance the quality of care offered in Kent County,” says Ken Kozel, president and CEO of UM Shore Regional Health.
Adds Noll, “We hope the community will continue to rally around the needs of our community’s patients by supporting our vital endeavors.”
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