Hamot Receives Grant to Partner with Coudersport, Kane, St. Marys Hospitals

Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper announced today that Hamot Medical Center has received a $99,000 federal grant to partner with three hospitals to provide rural patients greater access to the advanced medical care they need.

The Health and Human Services grant, which Hamot applied for with Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport, Elk Regional Health Center in St. Marys, and Kane Community Hospital in Kane, will specifically help pay for a cache of equipment to be stored at each of the rural hospitals for use while transporting critically ill patients to Hamot.

The equipment includes a portable ventilator, a wireless device to monitor vital signs, and a state-of-the-art portable IV pump. Currently, transfer of critically ill patients to Hamot from the rural hospitals can be significantly delayed because of a lack of equipment and critical-care trained paramedics and nurses.

“The purchase of this equipment will help put an end to critically-ill patients having to wait for a hospital transfer,” Rep. Dahlkemper said. “This equipment will save lives because it will give Hamot doctors the chance to provide the best care possible, as fast as possible. This grant is a great benefit for our rural communities.”

Hamot Medical Center officials said that adding the equipment to rural hospitals will reduce health care disparities in rural areas, improve hospital efficiencies and save lives.

“This grant, due to Rep. Dahlkemper’s leadership, will allow rural patients greater access to the advanced medical care that they need. It will provide critical medical equipment that is needed onsite to stabilize the patient and if necessary, transfer them to a higher level of care,” said Val Jackson, the regional director of the Hamot Heart Institute.