Mercy Health will be investing in new technology to improve patient care thanks to more than $100,000 in grants from the Mercy Health Foundation Clark and Champaign Counties.
The first of the two grants awarded totaled $94,975, which will be used to fund equipment upgrades at the Mercy Health – Springfield Imaging and Lab Center. The new Hologic Trident Specimen Imaging equipment will specifically benefit women having to undergo a stereotactic breast biopsy. During this process, breast x-rays are used to produce images of the same area from different angles to determine the exact location for a biopsy so sample tissue in the area of concern can be removed with a needle.
The current process takes abound five minutes, but the new equipment will shorten that to under 60 seconds.
“Four minutes is a long time when you have a needle in your breast, and it’s also under mammographic compression,” explained Kathryn McCarthy, head of mammography at Mercy Health – Springfield Regional Medical Center. “Making the biopsy process faster helps ensure our patients experience the least amount of discomfort possible, and that’s what this new equipment will do.”
The Hologic Trident Specimen Imaging equipment allows a radiologist to review images without leaving the biopsy room. This can result in quicker confirmation that the area of concern has been successfully removed, which sometimes also results in less tissue being removed.
The second grant given out by the Mercy Health Foundation Clark & Champaign Counties provided the Mercy Health – Springfield Regional Medical Center lab with $13,000. The money will fund new Gram stainer equipment, used to test for bacteria at the site of a suspected infection or in certain bodily fluids such as blood and urine.
The new equipment automates the test, providing more accurate results through the elimination of potential cross contamination and variation among users in manual gram staining. It also speeds up the process which means a faster turnaround time for physicians who rely on those results to identify the type of infection their patient may have and determine which treatment may be most effective.
“Mercy Health has a longstanding history of providing quality and compassionate care, and we want to honor that by continuing to invest to keep our technology on the leading edge and ensure our staff has the tools they need to continue improving the level of care we can offer,” said Kristy Kohl McCready, President of Mercy Health Foundation Clark & Champaign Counties. “We’re very grateful for the support of our generous donors, precisely because of all the things it allows us to do on behalf of our patients.”
Mercy Health Foundation Clark & Champaign Counties partners with donors to make lives better and communities stronger, raising charitable funds for the not-for-profit programs and facilities of Community Mercy Health Partners, including hospitals and community outreach programs.
If you’d like to contribute to future grants, call 937-523-6670 or visit foundation.mercy.com to discuss your interests and learn more about giving options.