Community of

a publication of the beaufort memorial hospital foundation • fall 2010

Giving

BMH Foundation Upcoming Events: • october 8-december 13 beaufort art association benefit exhibit opening reception october 8 at 5:30 p.m., cochrane heart center lobby • october 27 fall update for professional advisors • february 12 Valentine ball • march 26 duke symphony orchestra w w w . b m h f o u n d a t i o n s c . o r g

Meet Hannah, a 7-year-old girl from Hilton Head born with cerebral

palsy. She cannot speak or use her arms and legs effectively in her daily life and therefore is a pediatric patient at Beaufort Memorial’s HealthLink for Children Rehabilitation Center. Just weeks ago HealthLink tapped funds from the BMH Foundation to add the revolutionary Tobii ATI P10 eye gaze system. This technology creates a new frontier in evaluating and treating cases such as Hannah’s.

The Tobii system makes communication possible for patients who lack motor skills. It actually makes it possible for patients to communicate using their eyes. Cameras located above and below the system’s screen track the patient’s eye movements and detect their commands. For example,

Hannah finds and stares at an object on the screen, then blinks to “click on” or “select” her object of choice. Hannah’s therapist Erin Duncan says, “This device will help her learn how to communicate with her family, play games, and make

requests for her wants and needs by fixating her eyes on various pictures that are programmed to speak age-appropriate messages.”

“This technology is transforming the way we interact with and treat our patients,” says HealthLink Supervisor Megan Mack, OTR/L, MHA. “Interestingly, this system was originally created for marketing purposes to

track eye movement on advertisements, and now we are able to use it in a health

care setting. It’s simply amazing that we have this technology here in Beaufort—and the community is to thank for this machine along with all other support HealthLink has received throughout the years.”

therapy gym, as well as adding a sensory integration room. These state-of-the-art facilities help our young HealthLink patients improve their strength, mobility, balance, sensory processing, and language/communication skills.

As you can see, gifts from people like you have created a world-class rehabilitation facility for over 200 children in and around the Beaufort area.

Beginning next year, Hannah won’t have to travel quite as far since another branch of HealthLink will be opening in Bluffton alongside Beaufort Memorial’s Bluffton Medical Services.

Hannah plays a matching game on the new Tobii eye gaze system with her

therapist Amanda Freeman, MCD, CCC-SLP

“This technology is tranforming the way we interact with and treat our paitents.”

Additional funds gifted to the BMH Foundation for HealthLink have helped this children’s program purchase a swing gym, a physical therapy gym, and an occupational

Newly renovated Swing Gym at HealthLink Pediatric Rehabilitation Facility

Thanks to your support of the 2005 Valentine Ball, the BMH Mental

Health Department has undergone a major face lift over the past few years. Improvements to our psychiatric patient areas include new furniture, window treatments, fresh paint, new flooring, murals, upgraded outdoor spaces, and even an exercise bike. Susan South, Director of Mental Health, says “Our department was overjoyed to be the recipient of Valentine Ball proceeds. These renovations have given staff an extreme morale boost and shed new light on psychiatric patient care.”

Perhaps the most popular renovation was the outdoor deck, a favorite spot of many patients. Before, patients could not enjoy the deck without getting splinters from the old wood. Now the deck is completely refinished and patients and staff enjoy eating meals in the fresh air, gardening together, having educational group lessons, and admiring views of the Beaufort River and Kate Gleason Park. Inside, the most

remarkable improvement is the Bill Mead mural in the multi-purpose room. Where walls were once stark and bare, the mural spans two walls and portrays a beautiful scene of the

Healing Renovations for Mental Health

Gifts to the BMH Foundation purchased an advanced Electroencephalography

(EEG) machine, bringing the latest brain scanning technology to Beaufort Memorial. The EEG machine fulfills diagnostic needs that otherwise would require patients to travel out of town. This equipment improvement allows both inpatient and outpatient procedures to be administered locally, and when used as an outpatient service, patients wear the monitor in the comfort of their own home.

EEG machines record electrical activity along the scalp produced by the firing of neurons within the brain. They are

vital in the detection of seizures, strokes, trauma, epilepsy, and other brain abnormalities in both adult and pediatric patients. BMH Director of Imaging Daniel Mock relays the hospital’s gratitude. “We were so fortunate to have extra resources through the Foundation to fund the new EEG machine. EEG examinations are a low volume service;

during this time of economic tightening, we would not have been able to purchase this EEG machine without the BMH Foundation. We are grateful for

our community’s support so we can bring the latest brain scan technology to our hospital!”

State-of-the-Art Brain Scan Funded

Adult patient undergoing brain scan with new, advanced EEG machine

lowcountry that you can practically “step into.”

“I have seen a sense of peace and hope return to patients,” remarks Susan. “Our next goal is to further incorporate a Healing Arts Program. It is through art and music that many of our pa-tients find their sense of hope for their future.”

What better way to top off the “spruc-ing up” and enhancement of the physi-cal space than to welcome two new, highly qualified psychiatrists, Drs. Wynn Hill and Amanda Salas, who arrived in Beaufort over the summer and are now overseeing medical care provided in the Mental Health Unit at Beaufort Memo-rial. The generosity of our commu-nity has been matched with excellent doctors and unit staff, and our patients are being served with skill, respect and compassion. Everyone at BMH is proud of our Mental Health Department.

Beautiful Beaufort Waterfront Scenery from the renovated deck of the mental health wing

Daniel MockBMH Director of Imaging

Bill Mead Lowcountry Mural provides picturesque setting in psyciatric patients’ multi-purpose room

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Imagine being diagnosed with lung cancer not long after

moving to a new town. What local resources are available to help fight the disease? Is there a qualified doctor and treatment center? Fortunately, New York native Joan Bove’s new town was Beaufort, and the Keyserling Cancer Center was just minutes from her home and ready to help her in the fight of her life. Joan met Dr. Majd Chahin, principal investigator for BMH’s clinical trials program, and decided to receive her care in Beaufort instead of flying back to New York.

BMH is one of only half a dozen hospitals in the country invited to participate in Duke Medicine’s lung cancer clinical trials. After Joan heard she is a candidate to participate with Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center’s clinical trials and receive personalized treatments, she knew she was in the right place. “Even being from New York, I had heard of the prominence of Duke Medicine and am so happy to be at a hospital that is affiliated with them,” proclaimed Joan. “Not only do I love receiving the most advanced and personalized treatment that I can, but by participating in clinical trials I get to help people across the nation find better treatment solutions.”

Joan is now going through chemotherapy at Keyserling Cancer Center, which was constructed with more than

$3.5 million from the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Foundation. In a

classic example of a community improving resources for its citizens, support of the Keyserling Cancer Center has further rallied philanthropic support from local residents and organizations.

Only four years after opening its doors, the Keyserling Cancer Center is considered top-notch through its recent Accreditation with Commendation through the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. A major

factor in receiving such prominent accreditation is having

a well-organized clinical trials program, such as the one Joan is participating in. “We have worked very hard for the accreditation and, ultimately, to make sure our patients receive the best possible care,” says Connie Duke, RN, Director, BMH Oncology Services. “Our relationship with Duke University and participation in the clinical trials has served our patients well. Without the dedicated staff and community, none of this would have been possible.”

At the Keyserling Cancer Center these days, Joan is optimistic about her treatments within the clinical trials program, and she reports

back to her family and friends in New York that they need to move to Beaufort to get the kind of care she is receiving. “I have never met doctors and nurses or staff as friendly, approachable, and efficient as the staff I met here. Dr. Chahin deserves a Doctor of the Year award.”

Thank you to community members who not only helped bring to fruition the dream of the Keyserling Cancer Center, but who continue your support so that new and improved services can be added.

Beaufort Patients Help Improve Cancer Treatment for All

Thank you again!so many people have benefited from your generous support of the bmh foundation. Your gifts are helping people access the care they need and equipping our caregivers with the latest technology and resources for excellent patient care.

We are always pleased to answer your questions, help you learnmore about beaufort memorial, or perhaps show you firsthand your dollars at work.

You have made an impact, and we are grateful.

Alice Moss executive director, bmh foundation 522-5774 www.bmhfoundationsc.org

Joan Bove, patient of BMH Keyserling Cancer Center and

participant in clinical trials

“I have never met doctors and nurses and staff as

friendly, approachable, and efficient as the staff I met

here.”

Dr. Majd ChahinMedical Director,

BMH Medical Oncology and Principal Investigator

for clinical trials

Connie DukeBMH Oncology

Program Director

Ruth FinchClinical Research

Nurse

in early 2011 construction will begin to expand the emergency department of beaufort memorial hospital. this project is a primary focus in our efforts to deliver a better patient experience to members of our community.

most families in the beaufort area have had an experience with beaufort memorial’s er services. over 40,000 patients will need the services of the er in the coming year. this is well beyond design capacity and makes efficient care and patient flow difficult to achieve. the expansion will double the size of the center reducing overcrowding and wait times.

plans and costs are being finalized so be on the lookout for details very soon! proceeds from the 2011 Valentine ball “love in any language” on february 12th will once again benefit the er expansion. please contact us for more information.

G e o r G e n P r at t m D a n D s a r a h m e y e r P r at t e m e r G e n c y c e n t e r

w w w. b m h f o u n D at I o n s c . o r G 843.522.5774

02.18.10: beaufort memorial hospital & the bmh foundation celebrated naming the