Foundation For Community Care Holds Hard Hat Tour

The Foundation for Community Care and Sidney Health Center held a Hard Hat Tour on July 26. A bus left from the Foundation office and took guests on a tour of three Sidney Health Center services including the new rehab location, the Cancer Care Center to discuss upcoming changes and to see the Care Flight plane funded in part by the Foundation.

The first stop was to the Sidney-Richland Airport to tour the Care Flight plane. In June 2021, it was announced that Sidney Health Center was partnering up with fAIRMED to provide a new air ambulance service. Since its launch, Care Flight has completed nearly 300 flights for patients throughout eastern Montana and western North Dakota. Care Flight has flown patients to cities such as Denver, Seattle and Salt Lake City to name a few. "Care Flight is a licensed emergency medical service in the states of Montana and North Dakota and we have the ability to transport patients from within those states to anywhere" stated Care Flight Program Director Jake Keller. The Care Flight ambulance crew stands ready to take flight in the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop fixed wing aircraft at a moment's notice 24/7.

The tour then moved on to Sidney Health Center with a visit to the Cancer Center. The newly planned expansion to the buildings has been outlined with paint to shown the footprint for renovations. The new area is planned to accommodate a new TomoTherapy vault and a hyperbaric chamber. The TomoTherapy unit is a specialized CT scanner used in treating cancer. The equipment is kept in a room known as a vault due to the thick layers of steel and concrete used to contain the radiation. The additional TomoTherapy vault will house a newly updated TomoTherapy radiation therapy unit and will help ensure the continuation of care when the older unit needs to be replaced. The hyperbaric chamber allows for breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment. This therapy assists cancer and non-cancer patients with the treatment of serious infections and wounds that may have difficulty healing along with other possible ailments. "The Foundation has put forth $2.5 million to this new build," said Foundation Director Melissa Boyer. "We depend on our community support to help build this. Everyone knows the cancer center is a much-needed service in our community. If you haven't received those services, you knowof someone that has. It has been a Godsend to have this service at home."

The next stop on the tour was the new Sidney Health Center rehab facility. The new space has provided a much more spacious environment for both patients and physical therapists. "Our number of therapists has increased so they needed more space," said Sidney Health Center CEO Jen Doty. It features an expanded gym area along with dedicated areas for speech and occupational therapy, a pediatric room and cardiac/pulmonary rehab. The new facility will help the department see more patients in a timely manner with more room to expand treatment.

Sidney Health Center continues to evaluate, plan and prioritize the building improvements based on its mission, vision and values. To find out more on how to contribute to these improvements to the Sidney area healthcare system contact the Foundation for Community Care at 406-488-2273 or visit foundationforcommunitycare.org.