On Friday, Oct. 17, the Marshall Hospital Foundation will host its 11th annual Race to Wellness event as part of its ongoing effort to purchase vital medical equipment for Good Shepherd Medical Center-Marshall and improve the health and wellbeing of the citizens of Marshall and East Texas.
Making a difference has always been the drive behind the efforts of the Marshall Hospital Foundation with fund-raising activities, such as Race to Wellness.
“We are committed to providing state-of-the-art tools, which make it possible for GSMC-Marshall doctors and nurses to diagnose and treat patients in a shared commitment to serve and comfort those who need them,” said Foundation Director Gayle Weinberg.
“It is critical to the health for our communities that Good Shepherd remain at the forefront of medicine to provide the most advanced care available,” said Russ Collier, CEO of Good Shepherd Medical Center-Marshall. “The dedication and support of the Marshall Hospital Foundation and its generous donors make that possible.”
To date, the Foundation has raised more than $1.8 million through its Race to Wellness events. Last year’s Race to Wellness event, “Marshall to the Midway,” raised $265,000 and those proceeds were used to purchase an advanced patient monitoring system for Good Shepherd’s Emergency Department, which will be installed later this month.
“Our new Carescape Platform system will allow us to monitor more patients as we expand the number of units available,” said GSMC-Marshall’s Emergency Department Director, Toni Nixon, RN. “We will be interfacing the monitoring system with our electronic medical records, so we can import information directly from the monitors into the patients’ records. Several of the monitors also have the capability to run EKGs (electrocardiograms),” she said.
“As a Level III Trauma Center, these monitors give us comprehensive patient information and the versatility to better care for our adult, pediatric and neonatal patients,” said Keith Kirbow, GSMC-Marshall Chief Nursing Officer.
The Medical Director of Emergency Services at Good Shepherd, Dr. Jeff Beatty added, “The new monitors will undoubtedly improve the integration of information and the level of care within our department and the hospital as a whole.”
“We are very grateful to the Marshall Hospital Foundation for purchase of this equipment for our department,” said Nixon.
For 2014’s Race to Wellness, the MHF Board has committed to direct all proceeds to fully fund the purchase of cutting-edge laparoscopic equipment for Marshall’s surgical unit. The new equipment will be utilized in urologic, orthopedic and advanced laparoscopic procedures, from bowel resections and colorectal procedures to gynecological surgery.
Ricky Paul, MD, Good Shepherd Medical Associates Obstetrics, outlined the benefits of the new equipment.
“Through the articulating laparoscope’s enhanced ergonomic features, image quality and user-friendly design, surgeons will be able to perform more advanced, minimally invasive procedures,” Paul said. “For the patients of single-incision laparoscopic surgery, this results in much less postoperative pain and shorter recovery times.”
The Marshall Hospital Foundation offers multiple giving opportunities to potential donors throughout the year, through special events, such as Race to Wellness, along with scholarship programs, and memorials.
To learn more about becoming a donor to the Foundation, contact Foundation Director Gayle Weinberg at (903) 927-6982 or visit GSMC.org/marshall/ways-to-give.
