Defibrillators

The foundation provides medication assistance to patients in emergency situations, and has given more than $500,000 to local municipalities to help build a bicycle/walking path that eventually will encircle Warsaw and the surrounding area.

Starting with the $63 million, the foundation has grown to about $70 million.

For the last eight years, Willis Alt was the foundation's executive director, taking over when the hospital was sold after serving as the hospital board chairman before the sale.

Alt, 63, retired as executive director at the beginning of the year.

How to use the money from the sale never was an issue, Alt said.

And that's the biggest difference between the KCH sale and the Porter hospital sale.

"Our board of directors didn't have any political issues," Alt said.

"We said we wanted to maintain the money and grant the investment earnings back to the community for the health and wellness of our citizens." Alt was one of two paid employees with the foundation, he and an assistant.

A former banker, he made $84,872 as the executive director in 2004.

He said no politicians sit on the foundation board, just community leaders.

"We wanted to have it as apolitical as possible," Alt said.

"It has worked out well.

We've got one issue, and that's what's best for the county.

"We're not in a sunshine type of situation (open-...

Bruzese confirmed that Mercy does offer intervention care as well as a state-of-the-art, 64-slice CT (computed tomography) scanner.

"This is a non-invasive tool for diagnosing coronary arterial blockages," he said.

"It scans the entire heart in a second or two, and provides a brilliant three-dimensional image." San Juan Regional recently ordered a 64-slice CT scanner, and it should arrive by mid-summer, Buffington said.

Farmington's hospital does have a cardiac catheterization lab, something Mercy plans to open in a few months.

The products that are not yet offered here, will be in the future, according to Zaharko.

"We have a strategy to expand the program to include both diagnostic and interventional cardiology," she said.

"Our plan is to actively recruit cardiologists to be a part of the hospital," Buffington added.

Updating the program could help in getting heart doctors here and retaining them.

Mercy Medical Center has five cardiologists on staff and is not experiencing some of the issues Farmington is with recruitment and retention.

Bruzese said that could be because of Durango's high quality of life, as well as its modern hospital services.

Farmington also offers a high quality of life, and visiting physicians are impressed with San Juan Regional, Buffington said.

There, however, are problems with keeping physicians here.

Chuck Redwing,...

The applicant received the requested amount of $2,000.

B.J.

McDowell, a dispatcher at LCPD and a member of the Reserves, said the organization is self-funded and is, therefore, responsible for coming up with the funding for equipment and supplies that are needed.

He said the grant will help the organization toward its goal of having enough vests for all its members to wear while on duty.

McDowell said Reserves have received the check for the vests.

“They haven’t been purchased yet,” McDowell said, “but they are going to be coming.” Owenburg-Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Department.

The grant was requested to help buy a vehicle.

The department received $2,000 of the $5,000 it requested.

Nevertheless, Fire Chief Terry Jackson said the purchase has been made.

“What we bought was a Ford Explorer that we’re going to run our emergency runs out of for the department,” Jackson said.

The vehicle is used.

“We do about 120 medical runs a year,” Jackson said.

“We have first responders and EMTs on the department.

We get there before the ambulance and start the care for the patient and then release him to the ambulance.” Jackson said the UDWI grant, when added to funds provided by the department and township government, made the purchase possible.

UDWI Community Fund grants are awarded on a quarterly basis.

A news release from the utility reads, “Th...