With a $95,182 grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Northwood Deaconess Health Center (NDHC) has purchased ultrasound equipment to enhance the care it provides in its hospital and clinics.
The award was granted as part of a $27.4 million ultrasound initiative in North Dakota to help 69 hospitals and health centers purchase ultrasound imaging devices, as well as boost sonography and point of care ultrasound training opportunities around the state.
“We are beyond grateful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for investing in advances in healthcare,” said NDHC’s chief medical officer, Dr. Erika Stein. “The technology and tools we now have, thanks to the Trust, will help providers stabilize patients and assess their needs. This will allow us to start IVs, evaluate trauma patients, and perform injections with greater precision.”
CEO Brock Sherva added, “As we continue our commitment to transform healthcare delivery in the communities we serve, partnerships like these are vital. The equipment we’ve been able to purchase with support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust enhances the care we are able to provide our patients locally.”
Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to produce images of structures inside the body. This safe, cost-effective tool supports other clinical information to help providers make timely diagnoses and provide appropriate treatment.
Walter Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said the grants will help improve access to top-notch medical treatment for North Dakotans.
“These grants will help ensure that hospitals and health centers across North Dakota have the latest in state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment and training,” Panzirer said. “Facilities need to stay current with rapidly advancing technology so they can continue to provide the very best healthcare close to home.”
The majority (134) of the devices purchased through the grants are POCUS machines, which are used by providers at the bed or tableside for immediate assessment of a patient to quickly determine a course of action. The grants will also provide 57 general ultrasound systems and 24 cardiovascular ultrasound systems, which aid in imaging of the heart.
The initiative also funds training to expand sonographer expertise and provide comprehensive POCUS training to doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.
The Helmsley Charitable Trust has committed a total of $72 million to fund ultrasound equipment and training initiatives for rural communities and underserved populations in Nevada, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wyoming.
About the Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $4.5 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program funds innovative projects that use information technologies to connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas, and provide state-of-the-art training for rural hospitals and EMS personnel. To date, this program has awarded more than $750 million to organizations and initiatives in the states of Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and two U.S. Pacific territories, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For more information, visit www.helmsleytrust.org.
About Northwood Deaconess Health Center
Northwood Deaconess Health Center (NDHC) is independently owned and operated, serving northeast North Dakota communities since 1902. NDHC provides comprehensive healthcare services through its clinics in Northwood, Larimore and Binford. Occupational, physical and speech therapy services are provided at its Northwood facility, where a 25-bed critical access hospital offers 24x7 emergency and swing bed care along with long-term skilled care to residents..