The Community Medical Center in Falls City, Nebraska is one of 37 health care providers nationwide to receive grants totaling $14 million for new equipment. The Helmsley Charitable Trust is giving the CMC $400,000 for the purchase of a new CT scanner.
The 64-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner provides essential diagnostic images of structures inside the body. A new CT scanner will allow for faster scans that produce high-quality images, allowing medical staff to quickly determine health status and course of treatment while giving patients access to up-to-date healthcare technology close to home.
“We are deeply honored and delighted to have received this grant, allowing us to upgrade our CT imaging technology, which supports our protocols for stroke and brain injury and lets us perform new tests that patients previously needed to drive hours to receive,” said Ryan Larsen, CEO of Community Medical Center. “This is a big win for our community.”
Community Medical Center is one of 37 grant recipients across the region to benefit from funding to purchase CT scanners. The Rural Healthcare Program of the Helmsley Charitable Trust is granting nearly $14 million over the next six months to support the purchase of new, 32-slice or higher CT scanners at Critical Access Hospitals in a seven-state region.
The Johnson County Hospital Foundation in Tecumseh, Nebraska also received a grant, as did seven other health care providers in Nebraska. Here’s a list:
Henderson Health Care Services, Inc. – Henderson, NE
Niobrara Valley Hospital Corporation – Lynch, NE
Avera Creighton Hospital – Creighton, NE
Community Medical Center, Inc. – Falls City, NE
Franklin County Memorial Hospital – Franklin, NE
Gordon Memorial Health Services – Gordon, NE
Johnson County Hospital Foundation – Tecumseh, NE
Litzenberg Memorial County Hospital – Central City, NE
Osmond General Hospital, Inc. – Osmond, NE
“Our goal is to ensure that people who live in rural America have access to quality healthcare as close to home as possible,” said Walter Panzirer, trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “To achieve this, rural hospitals need to be viable and they need to have up-to-date equipment, so patients can receive essential healthcare services locally. This initiative is one of many that aims to improve healthcare access and health outcomes across the upper Midwest.”
The funding initiative was the result of a survey of Critical Access Hospitals in the Rural Healthcare Program’s seven-state funding region. Capital equipment, particularly CT scanners, was identified as a top need by many hospitals. In addition, a new Medicare policy will go into effect January 1, 2016 that may reduce reimbursement for certain studies on CT scanners that do not meet specific radiation dose requirements.