REGIONAL - Two local hospitals will be upgrading their imaging capabilities after receiving major grants to replace aging x-ray machines. Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital will receive almost $600,000 while the Cook Hospital was awarded $350,000 for the new technology from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Rural Healthcare Program.

“The new equipment will make clearer images and have less radiation exposure to staff and patients,” Cook Hospital CEO Theresa Debevec said. “We’re really looking forward to upgrading since it would have been expensive to change on our own.”

Debevec said both of the hospitals x-ray machines will be replaced as soon as May with quotes being sent out last week.

The grant will cover the entire cost of the equipment, with the hospital spending about $50,000 of its own money to retrofit existing rooms.

EBCH received $595,455 for a fixed digital x-ray machine with fluoroscopy and a mobile digital x-ray machine.

The funding is part of a $14.2 million initiative to upgrade x-ray technology at 49 rural hospitals in the Upper Midwest.

“We are very proud and excited to receive this incredible grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust,” said Mr. Michael Coyle, Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital CEO. “These funds will allow us to provide state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and expanded services to Ely and our entire service area. We are very grateful for this opportunity.”

Walter Panzirer, a Trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said the initiative represents the organization’s latest multi-site initiative to improve the quality of healthcare available to rural residents in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming.

“Our goal has always been to improve access to exceptional medical treatment for those who live in rural America,” Panzirer said. “To that end, rural hospitals need to remain viable and have the latest equipment to ensure their patients can receive essential, quality healthcare services locally. This initiative is just one of many that strives to improve healthcare outcomes throughout the Upper Midwest.”

Panzirer said critical access hospitals in the seven-state region are hampered by outdated equipment. Over the last four years, the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Rural Healthcare Program has awarded more than $30 million in grants to 82 hospitals in the Upper Midwest to purchase state-of-the-art computer tomography (CT) scanners.

“Technology has advanced so much, even over the last decade,” said Panzirer. “These grants, allowing for the purchase of advanced x-ray devices, will provide incredible benefits for medical workers and their patients for the foreseeable future.”