Foundation presents check to Hospital Board

COLFAX - The Hospital Foundation Board of Directors presented a $130,000 check to the Whitman County Hospital and Medical Board of Commissioners on Thursday, May 30.

The check is for an instrument washer needed for the hospital, which will be replaced at the same time as the sterilizer.

"It is at end of life and it makes sense to replace it at the same the sterilizer is," said Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics Manager of Administration Services Laurie Gronning.

During the Wednesday, May 15, Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics Commissioners meeting Chief Nursing Officer Bill Bryant updated the Board on the downed sterilizer.

Bryant told commissioners that the sterilizer cannot be repaired, and that he had talked to the company it was obtained through, Skytron, LLC. "They're going to essentially replace the sterilizer," Bryant told commissioners.

Though the company is replacing the sterilizer itself, the hospital needed additional funds to replace the instrument washer.

A sterilizer is a medical device used to sterilize surgical instruments using steam, dry heat, radiation, ethylene oxeide (EtO) gas, vaporized hydrogen peroxide and other sterilization methods.

"The replacement of the sterilizer is a major project that will involve the complete dismantling of the existing, nonfunctional system and then replacing it with a brand new unit," said Gronning.

Gronning said that they will be replacing the sterilizer with a brand new unit which will be built and installed over the next eight months.

During the commissioners Wednesday, April 17, meeting, Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics CEO Hank Hanigan said that he would draft a letter to the Foundation concerning the sterilizer.

"We are happy to give this to the hospital," said Foundation Coordinator Desiree Chappell on Thursday, May 30.

"We are thankful for all you do, and the community support," said Hospital Board of Commissioner Georgie Leinweber to the Whitman Hospital and Medical and Clinic Foundation Board.

The Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics Hospital Foundation serves as the hospital's safety net in the event of a financial emergency, and is a non-profit that raises funds for emergencies.

"Our goal is $10 million," said Chappell of the funds that they are raising to put aside for the hospital, "We're at $8.5 million, and foresee that goal in the upcoming years."