Jan. 29, 2003 – Thanks to a $5,310 donation from Starfish supermarket owner David Mugar, Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center has some new equipment to help improve patient care.
"It shows that people are committed to assisting with health care," administrator Erica McDonald said of the contribution.
One of the items acquired is a Spirometer that will allow doctors to measure lung function, which is useful in treating asthma patients. The device also can be used to determine if smoking has caused lung damage.
"We will use the Spirometer on patients in the same way we use a blood pressure machine to follow hypertension," said Dr. Joseph DeJames, a health center physician.
Another new acquisition made possible by Mugar's gift is an X-ray film duplicator that will allow patients to take copies of their X-rays to their doctors while leaving the originals on file at the health center.
In both cases, McDonald said, the equipment is allowing the center to provide new services for patients.
Mugar's gift also allowed for the clinic to purchase 15 instruments such as forceps that will be added to the existing inventory.
McDonald said the donation came about after Mugar had a chance conversation with a health center nurse and asked what he could do to help. "I told him I had a couple of things on the list," she said.
Last month, the St. John Lions Club donated a blood pressure machine worth $1,700.
Such contributions from the community help Myrah Keating Smith provide services sooner than would otherwise be possible, McDonald said, and the benefits are felt directly by patients.
To those who might be in a position to consider making donations, she pointed out that such money no longer goes into the "black hole" of the government's coffers as it did before Roy L. Schneider Hospital, and with it the Myrah Keating Smith Center, gained control of its own finances.
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