The Memorial Medical Center Foundation has awarded more than $537,000 in health-related grants for community and health-system initiatives.
Thirty-two projects received amounts ranging from nearly $1,200 to more than $128,000. Twenty-three grants were awarded to projects within Memorial Health System, seven to Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine, one to a nonprofit community organization and one to University of Illinois at Springfield.
Since 1984, the foundation has distributed nearly $8.5 million in health-related grants. The deadline for the next round of grant applications is Feb. 1, 2017.
“These grant applications are outstanding initiatives. They support Memorial’s mission to improve the health of the people and communities we serve, and they will help advance patient care, education and clinical research,” said Elena Kezelis, the foundation’s executive director.
The grant recipients are:
Memorial Health System’s Organization Development: $128,425 to purchase an endovascular simulator to train residents, physicians and nursing team members in the practice of neurointerventional radiology and interventional cardiology.
SIU School of Medicine Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery: $53,864 to develop and supply SIU and Memorial Medical Center perioperative units with vascular procedure-specific videos to educate patients.
Memorial’s Food and Nutrition Services: $44,860 to implement a clinical simulation lab to teach intensive care unit nurses and registered dietitians how to place a bedside small bowel feeding tube.
Memorial Child Care: $38,000 to construct a private area for nursing mothers to breastfeed during the facility’s hours of operation.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division, 7B Family Maternity Suites: $29,886 to purchase a neonatal simulator that will interact with simulation mannequins at the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation.
Midwest Healthcare Quality Alliance: $24,885 to fund a symposium about patient safety and simulation.
Elizabeth Ann Seton Program: $20,000 to support a series of three 16-session workshops to help low-income mothers and pregnant women learn about good physical health and other practical topics.
SIU School of Medicine Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine: $19,995 to purchase equipment for the school’s Core Laboratory facility to quantify and measure levels of DNA and RNA in cells and tissues.
SIU School of Medicine Internal Medicine/Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery: $16,301 to fabricate and study electrospun polymers as a vehicle for building stem cell-seeded bioengineered scaffolds.
SIU School of Medicine Institute for Plastic Surgery: $16,124 to evaluate whether fat stem cells can be seeded onto dermal metrical biological scaffold to form cartilage.
SIU School of Medicine Internal Medicine/Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery: $14,962 to study the properties of LGR6+ cells after growing them independently to promote the healing of fractures.
SIU School of Medicine: $14,145 to purchase six airway mannequins, an AirSim child and AirSim baby to teach airway management strategies and intubations.
Memorial Medical Center’s Weight Loss & Wellness Center/Bariatric Services: $12,000 to establish a monthly forum to ease informational exchanges between local, regional and national researchers and clinicians.
Memorial Health System’s Simulation and Clinical Development: $10,806 to fund tactical emergency casualty care, a specialized training for frontline responders who may have to respond to active shooter situations.
Memorial Medical Center’s Weight Loss & Wellness Center: $10,000 to provide scholarships to 20 people who do not have financial assistance to cover the cost of group diabetes education courses, education materials and transportation, if needed.
Memorial Medical Center’s Security: $10,000 to fund a four-hour TEAM (Techniques for Effective Aggression Management) class for 150 employees that focuses on recognizing and responding to aggression and violence in a manner that assures patient, visitor and staff safety.
Memorial Medical Center’s Heart Failure Team: $9,000 to fund a one-day seminar about heart failure for registered nurses and other healthcare professionals.
Memorial Health System’s Patient Safety and Patient Experience departments: $8,280 to create a patient and family advisory committee.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $6,600 to fund an on-site review course for nurses pursuing Critical Care Registered Nurse certification.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $6,389 to research perceptions of rapid response events by interviewing physicians and nurses, improve internal processes and present results at the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses conference in May 2017.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $6,200 to fund a one-day conference for nurses practicing in medical and surgical settings featuring a nationally known expert.
University of Illinois Springfield Department of Biology: $5,866 to purchase anatomical models for anatomy and physiology classes.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $4,953 to study what factors identify risk for inpatient psychiatric patients to have a medical event.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $4,500 to fund the 23rd annual nursing research conference, which will include keynote speakers and an opportunity for presenters to showcase their work in evidence-based practice and research.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $4,000 to fund an acute care neurology conference focusing on neuroscience nursing.
Memorial Medical Center’s Regional Cancer Center: $3,500 to provide a certified smoking cessation program for cancer patients and their immediate family members.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $3,340 to research self-directed, unrestricted visits during immediate, post-operation recovery phases.
Memorial Health System’s Community Benefit: $3,065 to interview clients of the Enos Neighborhood Access Project to identify interventions that are working well so they can be replicated and further developed.
Memorial Health System Clinical Integration and Care Coordination: $3,000 to fund a Summit for Coordinated Healthcare Across Springfield so medical professionals can learn about community agencies and network with representatives.
SIU School of Medicine Office of Residency Affairs: $2,100 to provide a reception that includes presentation opportunities and an award ceremony for residents and fellows who submit projects that directly or indirectly improve patient safety and quality of healthcare delivery.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $1,200 to present research about the impact perinatal loss has on nurses who care for these families.
Memorial Medical Center’s Nursing Division: $1,144 to study the perceptions of nurses who engage in nursing research in regard to clinical thinking, professional engagement, growth and development.
The Memorial Medical Center Foundation secures financial support and awards grants for health-related services that benefit people served by Memorial Health System and other nonprofit community organizations.
The foundation awards grants to central Illinois organizations with 501(c)(3) classifications or educational institutions in communities served by Memorial Health System. Grants are not awarded to individuals.
For more information about the foundation’s programs and services or its grant-application process, call (217) 788-4700. Information and grant applications also are available on the foundation’s website at MemorialMedicalFoundation.com.
The foundation’s officers are Bridget L. Lamont, chair; Rob Pietroburgo, vice chair; Cherrilyn Mayfield, treasurer; G. Virginia Conlee, secretary; Robert W. Kay, assistant treasurer; and Edgar J. Curtis, president.
Other board members are R. Lee Allen, John “Marty” Green, Dr. David L. Griffen, Jennifer Isringhausen, Cheryl Martin, James Walter Reed Jr., J. William Roberts, Henry Dale Smith Jr., Val Yazell and Dr. Donald H. Yurdin.