Stormont Vail Foundation Geary Fund

Goal: $7,500.00

Specific Need

Funds raised at the Geary Community Match Day will go towards the purchase two Siemens Atellica CI 1900 Analyzers for our Flint Hills Campus Laboratory.  This state-of-the-art equipment will replace outdated units with limited capabilities.  

A well-running lab is essential to the delivery of high-quality healthcare services.  In a healthcare setting, patients deserve fast, accurate results so they, with their provider, can make informed decisions about the next steps in their care – leading to better outcomes. 

The Flint Hills Campus Lab supports the operations of the entire campus including all hospital services – emergency department, surgery, and inpatient medical/surgical unit – and outpatient primary and specialty clinic services.  It is also contracted by four area long-term care facilities for their resident’s lab work.  Annually, the Flint Hills Campus Lab runs some 127,000 tests for nearly 30,000 patients.

Stormont Vail is committed to investing in the long-term success of the Flint Hills Campus.  However, because there are significant equipment needs - both replacement and new - the Stormont Vail Foundation has committed to fundraise for equipment needs to stretch budgeted funds.

The cost of the two analyzers is $206,645.  Thanks to the generosity of donors, to date the Stormont Vail Foundation has raised $67,500 of the $75,000 it has committed to this project.  

Mission

Profile

While the lab equipment currently being utilized can complete a wide variety of routine tests, it is unable to provide certain tests that may be crucial the patient’s diagnosis and future well-being.  In particular, it cannot complete tests for hepatitis or HIV which are crucial for decision making for treatment of healthcare workers who are exposed to patient’s blood or body fluids.

The new equipment would add 25 new tests to the Flint Hills Campus Lab menu including immunosuppressant tests for transplant patients, certain oncology tests for cancer patients, and endocrine tests for reproductive health.  It is estimated more than 25,000 additional tests would be completed with this new equipment.

Currently, these and other lab tests are sent by courier to Stormont Vail’s Main Lab in Topeka, which delay results for hours or potentially days.  Having this testing capability in-house will give our providers the results necessary to make sound treatment decisions quickly and accurately.  It will also minimize the stress on patients and family members associated with waiting on results.  

In addition to increased testing capabilities, advantages of upgrading the analyzer at the Flint Hills Campus Lab include:

• The ability to complete more tests per hour.  Our current equipment can run 440 tests per hour where the new analyzers can run up to 1,000. 
• Critical tests can be completed in a shorter length of time, providing information vital for patient care in emergent situations.  One example is the troponin test, which is used to diagnose a heart attack.  Our current lab equipment takes about 30 minutes to result this test.  The new technology cuts this time to 16 minutes. 
• Powerful AI software raises the accuracy of results by lowering the risk of misdiagnoses and other technical errors that may occur.  This advancement will also improve the Lab’s productivity.
• Safety improvement for lab technicians thanks to sample management system that minimizes blood/body fluid exposure.
• The opportunity to run test for Stormont Vail’s Manhattan Campus, which are currently completed at the Topeka Main Lab. 

Importantly, the equipment in the Flint Hill’s Campus’ Lab is reaching its end of life.  While still operational, due to normal wear and tear, field service engineers are called in frequently to service our equipment.  This can lead to delay of patient care by at least two hours.