Grow Greene County awarded over $1.8 million in grants in April, including $81,500 to the Greene County Medical Center Foundation for the purchase of a new C-arm imaging machine.
Last week, representatives from the Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation board of directors joined Medical Center leadership for a preview of this valuable new piece of radiology equipment.
Imaging director Jennifer Miller demonstrated the flexibility of the C-shaped device that can be used laterally, vertically and at nearly all angles in between. “We will typically use the C-arm to check for gall stones, aid in heart catheter insertions, for needle guidance as well as in orthopedic, podiatric and pain clinic procedures,” she explained. “This provides a live, real-time image to our providers, and even though we are a smaller hospital, we get a lot of use out of this machine.”
The previous C-arm was manufactured in 2000 and refurbished prior to Greene County Medical Center’s purchase in 2011. Earlier this year the machine neared end-of-life for replacement parts and repair and it was learned the batteries and service support were no longer available. This situation, coupled with the increased patient need, resulted in the grant request and subsequent purchase of the replacement at a cost of more than $163,000.
“We are excited to have a machine of this caliber at Greene County Medical Center,” CEO Chad Butterfield, said. “The Pain Clinic has really been a large service line addition and we are happy to have this state-of-the-art imaging technology available for those patients and providers, as well as for our orthopedics, podiatry, surgery and other services. We can’t thank Grow Greene County enough for your support, it is amazing.”
In an agreement with Wild Rose Entertainment, Inc., Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation receives five percent of the adjusted gross gaming revenue each year. Eighty-two percent of this is distributed to nonprofits and government and charitable organizations in Greene County with 18 percent going to Community Foundations of the six counties adjacent to Greene.
Greene County Medical Center is a not-for-profit subdivision of Greene County by the State of Iowa and the Foundation is the fundraising arm of the Medical Center.
