Wyoming rural hospitals welcome advances in ultrasound technology
Charitable grant from Helmsley Charitable Trust opens door for game-changing diagnostic equipment
09/03/2024
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust granted $1,869,863 to the Banner Health Foundation to support acquisition of 29 pieces of ultrasound equipment, ranging from bladder scanners to handheld ultrasound devices, for use across six Banner Health medical centers and clinics in Wyoming. The funding is part of a total $13.9 million in grant awards from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to help Wyoming hospitals and health centers purchase ultrasound imaging devices and boost sonography and point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training opportunities across the state.
In 2020, Banner Health announced a new affiliation with Wyoming Medical Center (Casper, WY), making it Banner’s flagship hospital in Wyoming. This acquisition expanded Banner’s existing Wyoming footprint, which already included three rural hospitals: Platte County Memorial Hospital in Wheatland, Torrington Community Hospital in Torrington, and Washakie Medical Center in Worland.
Despite barriers rural hospitals face to maintain their infrastructure, ultrasound equipment plays a vital role in rural healthcare by providing versatile, non-invasive, and cost-effective means of diagnosis and monitoring. The Banner Health Wyoming Ultrasound Revitalization Project, in partnership with the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, represents an opportunity to enhance Banner Health’s ability to meet the needs of its Wyoming rural patient population through zero-risk diagnostic tools for timely, accurate diagnosis and treatment for emergent and routine patients alike. “The new ultrasound equipment generously funded by the Helmsley grant has already significantly enhanced outpatient care services,” says Margo Karsten, western division president for Banner Health. “The state-of-the art technology allows for sharper imaging, facilitating more accurate diagnoses and enabling timely, personalized treatment at the bedside. We are profoundly grateful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for this generous support.”
Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to produce images of structures inside the body. This safe, cost-effective tool supports other clinical information to help providers make timely diagnoses and provide appropriate treatment.
Walter Panzirer, a Trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said the grants will help improve access to quality medical treatment for all Wyoming residents, whether they live in the heart of Cheyenne or Casper or in a smaller rural community. “Our hospitals and health centers need to stay current with rapidly advancing technology so they can continue to provide top-notch healthcare close to home,” Panzirer said. “These grants help ensure that facilities across Wyoming have the latest and greatest ultrasound equipment and training.”
About two-thirds of the 143 devices purchased through $12.3 million in equipment grants are POCUS machines, which are used by providers at the bed or tableside for immediate assessment of a patient to quickly determine a course of action. The grants also provided for 26 general ultrasound systems and 20 cardiovascular ultrasound systems, which aid in imaging of the heart. The initiative also includes nearly $1.6 million in funding awarded for the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Point-of-Care Ultrasound Training Initiative, which aims to enhance patient care across the state by both broadening the scope of training in specialty ultrasound and bolstering access to quality POCUS services.
With this direct investment in Banner Health’s infrastructure, our facilities and services will realize enhanced functionality from the use of versatile diagnostic tools. This in turn will improve healthcare accessibility and enhance quality of care and satisfaction for the patients we serve in Wyoming.
About the Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grant making in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $4.5 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program funds innovative projects that use information technologies to connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas, and provide state-of-the-art training for rural hospitals and EMS personnel. To date, this program has awarded more than $700 million to organizations and initiatives in the states of Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and two U.S. Pacific territories. For more information, visit www.helmsleytrust.org.