September 16th, 2010

CT Scanner

Varian Clinac Linear Accelerator

Interpreter Services Program

Grants to Saint Francis Memorial Hospital made possible by your generosity.

Beckman/Coulter Integrated Chemistry Analyzer: $320,266

The Laboratory can now process blood samples in under an hour, quickly bringing life-saving information to physicians and staff.

Varian Clinac® Linear Accelerator: $2,500,000

CareConnect Training:  $1,053,900

Computer school for 1,167 physicians and staff to bring online the new digitized patient registration and medical record system.

LightSpeed CT Scanner: $1,600,000

An average of 35 patients find life-saving benefit from this state of the art technology—every day of the week.

Get-A-Lift Patient Movement System:  $400,000

To purchase patient lifting equipment and train Hospital staff in its use.

Marin Sports Medicine Clinic:  $485,800

To establish a new Sports Medicine Clinic in Marin.

Palliative Care Program: $114,000

To establish a Palliative Care Program at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, providing a multi-disciplinary approach to the care of patients with life-threatening diseases and their families.

Nuclear Medicine Camera:  $678,500

Purchase and installation of a state-of-the-art nuclear medicine camera.

Interpreter Services Program: $149,191

To provide certified medical interpreters on a scheduled basis in outpatient departments and on-call for inpatient units and other needs.

Nursing Excellence Program:  $150,000

To achieve the American Nurses Association "Best Practice" status to create incentive for improved recruitment of high quality nursing staff.

Burn Center Patient Call System:  $80,000

This system replaces an outmoded nurse call system.  A video screen at the master nursing station shows the geographic layout of the unit's floor plan and indicates current staff presence.  Each patient station allows patients and nurses to talk back and forth without having to push buttons.  The system has a special Nurse Emergency button in each patient's room for staff to call for immediate assistance.  Also included is interface with the Hospital's admitting records and a reporting feature that logs all patient-nurse call activity.

CancerCare Program Redesign and Expansion:  $185,000 first year, $160,000 second year

This grant is designed to revitalize the Hospital's oncology services by (a) bringing onboard a clinical pharmacologist expert in cancer chemotherapy, pain management and nutritional support; (b) improving care management via a CancerCare coordinator/patient advocate to integrate the resources required to coordinate the multiple disciplines involved in cancer care, diagnosis and treatment; (c) refurbishing and expanding the infusion center; and (d) provide videoconferences to promote clinical oncology information sharing, medical education and improved patient care.

MRI Software Upgrade:  $110,000

This grant will upgrade the MRI's software to allow the Hospital to perform cardiac and MRA studies not currently available.  It will improve orthopedic imaging, decrease processing time, and reduce image storage media space.  Patient comfort will be increased by cutting the MRI noise level from 50 to 30 decibels.

Automated External Defibrillators:  $111,500

Nine automated external defibrillators and eight biphasic defibrallators will be placed strategically throughout the Hospital.  Since the chance of restoring the heart to normal rhythm decreases by 10% for each one-minute delay, the employment of these devices will provide state-of-the-art technology and ensure rapid defibrillation for anyone experiencing cardiac arrest throughout the Hospital.

Community Partners Awards:  $15,000

This grant co-sponsors and funds the Annual Community Partners Celebration Heroes Awards, acknowledging the community service of organizations in the immediate vicinity.  A Community Hero (or Heroes) are selected from the neighborhood and/or the Hospital staff to be honored by an award in the form of checks payable to the community-based organization of their choice serving the SFMH community.