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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
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Sanpete Messenger
Sanpete businesses share generosity with food bank
By Bryon Glathar
Managing Editor
MT. PLEASANT—After soliciting
financial assistance from several cities
within the county, including the county
itself, the Sanpete County Food Bank
has received two sizeable donations from
local businesses.
AmericanWest Bank and Centracom
both stepped up to help the struggling aid
program after public requests for help
from Mary Goodwin, the food bank’s
president.
Goodwin has spent the last several
weeks visiting city council meetings
around Sanpete in hopes to keep the
program alive.
“I think we’ve done really well to
survive this long and never had to come
to the cities. We’ve been there a long
time. So now, we’re struggling and asking
for help,” Goodwin said last month
before the Gunnison City Council.
She made similar pleas in October to
all of the county’s mayors at a monthly meeting
of mayors and county commissioners.
Having enough food isn’t the problem,
Goodwin said. The problem is being able to
pay the people who weigh, organize, package
and deliver the food.
Gunnison Valley Hospital
Compassion. Commitment. Community.
Gunnison Valley Hospital Debuts New CT Scanner With Faster, Better Imaging
The staff at Gunnison Valley Hospital (GVH)
have always taken pride in knowing they have,
at hand, the very latest resources to better serve
patients.
Their newest resource is the Philips Ingenuity
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CT, or computed tomography, is a medical imaging
procedure that utilizes computer-processed
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areas of the body, primarily for diagnostic use.
To doctors, notes Vicki McArthur, head of the
radiology department at GVH, this technology
means faster, better, more detailed images to help
in diagnosing and treating medical issues. For
patients it means “low-dose radiation, which has
become an important issue in recent years,’’ and
overall better health care.
The Philips Ingenuity CT Scanner introduces
“iDose,’’ a reconstruction technique that creates
high-quality images using low-dose X-ray technology.
Images are produced in seconds rather
than minutes.
According to McArthur, the previous scanner
used in the radiology department produced four
slices or images per second; the new scanner
produces 64 slices per second.
What this means to the patient is faster exams
and better, more detailed images. The scanner
also has the capability of 3D reconstruction,
which makes it possible to reconstruct with thinner
slices for a much better image that is far more
accurate.
The Ingenuity’s RapidView imaging is 137
percent faster than other CT scanners commonly
used in the medical industry.
Central Utah Food Sharing serves families
in six Central Utah counties, including
Sanpete County. Last month alone the food
bank assisted more than 400 families.
Aware of the food bank’s difficulty, David
Ames, the branch manager of American-
West’s Mt. Pleasant and Fairview branches,
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMERICANWEST BANK AND CENTRACOM
Mary Goodwin, president of the Sanpete County Food Bank accepted sizeable cash donations
earlier this month from David Ames, AmericanWest branch manager, and Branch and Eddie
Cox, CEO and president, respectively, of CentraCom.
presented a $2,500 check to Goodwin. The
donation is a part of an ongoing annual commitment
by the bank to support local food
assistance organizations.
“We contribute throughout the year to
Central Utah Food Sharing because they
provide so much for local families in need.
Judge to move malpractice lawsuit along quickly
By Christian Probasco
For the Sanpete Messenger
MT. PLEASANT—A
judge has agreed that a Mt.
Pleasant woman’s malpractice
lawsuit should be moved along
quickly because of her age.
But even at the quickened
pace, the soonest Jennie Brady
will have her day in court will
be early March.
On Oct. 11 in Sixth District
Court in Manti, attorney
Mathew Steward argued on
behalf of Brady that her case
should be expedited because of
the increasing possibility that
his 90-year-old client could die
before the trial.
After noting that the case
had been pending for a year,
during which unsuccessful mediation
negotiations took place,
Judge Marvin Bagley set the
March trial date.
Brady is suing Sanpete Valley
Hospital, two of its former
doctors, Intermountain Health
Care (IHC) and several IHC subsidiaries,
alleging malpractice
after a surgical sponge was left
inside her during an operation.
She also claims hospital
doctors and staff administered
morphine to her during her
stay even though, she says, the
hospital knew she was allergic
to the painkiller.
Brady entered the hospital
in February 2010 for surgery to
remove a cancerous portion of
her colon.
Dr. Brandon Butte performed
the operation.
Shortly afterward, Brady
says she experienced pain and
difficulty breathing. She re-
turned to the hospital for X-rays
and a CT scan which reportedly
showed a mass in her abdomen.
A court brief filed by
Brady’s attorneys says Dr.
Charles Nunn saw the results
of the CT scan.
Brady claims neither she
nor her family was informed
of those results until after she
passed the sponge during a later
visit to the hospital in May the
same year.
A brief filed by Steward
states Dr. Butte’s own notes
after the sponge had passed
“concluded that the surgical lap
sponge had been left in Mrs.
Brady’s intraperitoneal cavity”
during the operation.
“That same day, and for the
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family,” the court brief states.
In the meantime, Brady
says she suffered from a variety
of worsening symptoms which
she claims destroyed her ability
to care for herself.
Brady, the brief states,
“never fully recovered from her
diminished physical strength
and condition,” and was forced
to enter an assisted living center.
Brady is suing for “extensive
and severe physical and
emotional pain and suffering
resulting from the defendants’
medical negligence,” in an
amount to be determined by the
court.
Nunn and Butte, both
named in the suit, have since
left Sanpete Valley Hospital.
An earlier motion to dismiss
three of IHC’s subsidiaries
named in the suit was denied.
“We’re excited to have this new technology
and get the images we were not able to get in the
past. The old procedure didn’t take a lot of time,
but this new scanner will require even less,’’
McArthur notes.
Scanners have become a vital tool in the medi-
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each year. They make is possible for doctors to
actually see inside the body without having the
patient undergo surgery.
Old scanner systems required a patient to be
placed on a table and remain motionless for a
period of time. The Ingenuity resembles a large
doughnut with an attached table, and it is the
table that carries the patient in one side of the
“doughnut’’ and out the other side. Along the way
the scanner focuses on that part of the body being
examined.
For example, with issues of the brain the scanner
takes only images of the brain. Doctors then
examine detailed images to identify problems,
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Introduction of the Philips scanner was not a
spur-of-the-moment decision for the hospital.
“We went through the process of looking at
several vendors, visiting several sites and looking
at several different pieces of equipment in order
to get the very latest and the very best we could,”
says McArthur. “We decided on Philips. It is the
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new platform of technology.’’
The staff then went through an extensive training
program, both off site at Philips headquarters
in Cleveland, Ohio, and on site at Gunnison
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Valley Hospital, to familiarize themselves with its
operations.
“The Philips Ingenuity CT Scanner is the
latest, top-of-the-line equipment and it is but
another example of Gunnison Valley Hospital’s
philosophy of staying up with the latest and best
technology available,’’ McArthur points out.
For more information about the Philips Ingenuity
CT Scanner, contact the Gunnison Valley
Hospital’s radiology department at 435-528-
2125.
The new low-radiation CT scanner is sixteen
times faster than the hospital’s previous
technology and captures several high-quality
images per second.
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A9
As the need has increased, resources have
been stretched thin, and we want to step
up and make a difference this holiday
season,” Ames said.
“The holiday season makes it even more
challenging for individuals and families to
make ends meet, so we’re pleased to do our
part and assist the food bank as they help
so many of our neighbors,” Ames said.
“We encourage others in the community
who are able to give to also do what they
can to support this important cause.”
CentraCom and its employees also
chipped in with a large donation of
$2,275, presented to Goodwin by Centracom
CEO Branch Cox and President
Eddie Cos.
The company also sponsored a free
concert in Fairview featuring Marshal
McDonald and the Young Artist Chamber
Players, where it accepted over $450 and
non-perishable food for the food bank.
“It amazes me how giving our community
is,” said Goodwin. “This money will
help feed many families in the area.”
CentraCom also donated $200 to
Knights of Columbus, which will provide
about 20 coats for children.
Cash and non-perishable food donations
can be made to: Central Utah Food Sharing,
1080 South Blackhawk Blvd., Mt. Pleasant,
UT 84647.
PHOTO COURTESY TROY LARSEN
Cooper Larsen, the son of Troy and Mindy Larsen of
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Chandler.
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