Page 23 - BeaufortMemorial

Community benefts activities include cancer support groups, the CHiP mobile wellness unit, health fairs, the Speakers Bureau, “Baby University” classes and related costs, and Stork’s Nest. It also includes eforts to im-prove community health such as Eat Smart Move More Lowcountry, the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Coalition, the Healthy Communities Initiative and the Coastal South Tobacco Coalition.

We participate in community-building activities by providing exper-tise and resources. Tese include staf members working with the student-related programs such as the Medical Career Group, Camp Sea Breeze, the High School Cooperative Program, the Lunch Buddy Program, the Coalition to Improve Diversity in Healthcare, the Sheldon Township Community Support Partnership, Beaufort County Alliance for Human Services and the Executive Management Team of the Alliance.

Te cost of the afliations with Duke Medicine in heart and cancer care brings tremendous value to the com-munity in the form of clinical trials, education and training programs to keep staf up-to-date on the latest developments, and regular quality reviews.

Te greatest beneft of these aflia-tions is that we bring the best quality of healthcare to our community, reducing the need for long-distance travel during traumatic illnesses.

BMH participates in an innovative blood conservation program used by major teaching facilities. Modern medical practice indicates the role of blood transfusions should change, cautioning healthcare providers to be conservative with this method of treatment. Trough participation in the HemoConcepts program, health-care professionals are fnding better, less invasive ways to improve people’s health.

BMH President and CEO Rick Toomey serves on the Board of the clinic, which provides basic preventive and primary care and prescription as-sistance to area residents with limited income and no health insurance. As part of a special partnership, BMH provides free diagnostic testing, including lab work, x-rays, CT (com-puted tomography) scans, MRIs, and ultrasound. In 2010, BMH provided $220,000 in those services to clinic patients. In addition, BMH donated $25,000 last fall for operational expenses.

In 2010, for the eighth year in a row, Beaufort Memorial was recognized as one of the nation’s most wired small and rural hospitals, according to the results of the 2010 Most Wired Survey released in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. BMH is one of fve hospitals in the state of South Carolina to achieve this distinction.

Over the past year, Beaufort Memorial helped provide more than $100,000 in funding or provided in-kind services to the:

✓✓ American Cancer Society Relay For Life (lead sponsor)

✓✓ American Heart Association Heart Walk (major sponsor)

✓✓ March of Dimes TeamWalk (lead sponsor)

✓✓ National Alliance for Mental Illness Walk (lead sponsor)

Other community events, such as the BMH Cycling Classic, the Concours d’Elegance, Lilies on the River (Hope Haven), the American Diabetes Association’s Kiss a Pig Challenge, the Rotary Biathlon, the Penn Center Gala and the Beaufort County Water Festival, also received support from BMH. In addition, BMH employees, through the Foundation’s Good Pirates, contributed more than $30,000 to charitable causes.

In 2002, Beaufort Memorial chose to organize a community blood center in partnership with Te Blood Alliance, based in Jacksonville, Fla. Te driving issue behind the move was ensuring access to blood and blood products. By 2009, BMH became totally self-sufcient, and it has continued to be so throughout 2010. It is because the people in our community recog-nized a need and met it that our local community blood center has been so successful.

Beaufort Memorial brings tremendous benefts to the community in many ways. Te activities and programs listed here are just a few examples. For more about our community benefts, visit www.bmhsc.org .