$85,000 in health grants awarded by Barton Foundation

Barton Foundation dispersed $85,000 to increase patient safety and privacy, offer comfort for children and their family members, and provide education and training for local first responders.

At Barton Memorial Hospital, the MRI imaging suite now has a ferromagnetic threat detector installed at the entrance. This device detects metal objects inside of or being carried by the patient before they enter the MRI suite and risk becoming a projectile. Barton Health Skilled Nursing Facility received Accora floor beds that reduce the risk of falls and improve patients’ head and foot mobility to receive care while still in bed.

Patient privacy has been improved through sound resistant privacy curtains in Lake Tahoe Surgery Center, which extend all the way to the floor. Privacy glass has been added at the Barton Community Health Center, ensuring more privacy for tele-medicine visits.

Barton Foundation presented a wagon full of teddy bears to the hospital’s emergency department to help ease anxiety for pediatric patients. Further relief is being offered in the form of Buzzys, a combination ice pack and vibration kit that numbs and distracts individuals nervous about needles.

Recommended by the American College of Surgeons as well as the Department of Homeland Security, Barton ER staff will receive training on the Stop Bleed Program. This program educates medics and nurses on the use of tourniquets in the event of a mass casualty incident. Training classes be available to local first responders at schools, police departments and fire protection agencies in addition to Barton employees.