Hospital hosts gala to support surgical expansion

Pullman Regional Hospital will hold its 15th annual fundraising gala May 14 after canceling the event last year because of COVID-19.

The gala, which raises roughly $160,000 to $180,000 depending on the year, accounts for roughly 10% of funds that go toward capital improvements, said CEO Scott Adams.

Each year, the hospital reinvests roughly $2 million in capital improvements, Adams said. Contributions from the Pullman Regional Hospital Foundation, including the gala, more than double those funds.

This year, the foundation has a goal of raising $3 million to help expand the hospital’s surgical space, and purchase new surgical robotics and a new electronic medical records system. The foundation is also fundraising for simulation technology for its family medicine residency program.

The foundation is aiming to raise $1 million to assist with the new electronic medical records system, said Rueben Mayes, chief development and external relations officer for PRH.

That EMR system will, among other things, improve patient access and convenience, he said.

The hospital’s 25-year-old medical record system will be replaced with Epic medical records, Adams said, which is used by 77% of hospitals in Washington, and 59% of hospitals nationwide.

“It becomes an issue of improved safety, and reduced repetition, reduced redundancy of care,” he said. “When people have access to your health information (and) you’re somewhere else unexpectedly, they can look back at your record and say, ‘Oh, you just had an EKG, you just had the same lab exam done last week with the doctor’s office, and I can see the results so I don’t need it.’ So there’s a coordination of care benefit.”

The foundation is also aiming to raise $1.6 million for surgical expansions, Mayes said, remodeling 3,000 square feet of hospital space. That expansion includes an additional operating room, expanded central sterile supply and more room for surgical robotics.

The foundation is currently raising funds to replace the da Vinci Robotic-assisted surgical system, which they purchased in 2012. That system has been used for abdominal surgeries like hernia repair, hysterectomies, prostatectomies as well as general surgery, urology and gynecology.

The residency program, a partnership with the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, earned accreditation in 2021. Construction is nearly finished for the 5,000-square-foot space.

The next step, Adams said, is adding simulation technology to help train residents — the first three of whom are slated to arrive in 2023 for a three-year training program.

“That’s an area that was deemed very important, to have a simulation lab and upgrade the technology in there so that the residents can have that as a part of their curriculum,” Adams said, “as well as our nursing staff, ambulance drivers and EMT workers, and nursing students and medical students.”

Although the residency program was in the works before many hospitals saw a shortage in providers because of the COVID-19 pandemic, training more health care workers is especially beneficial now because of that shortage, Adams said.

“In light of the last couple years, this will be a great benefit,” he said.

The gala will be held at 5:40 p.m. May 14 at the SEL Event Center in Pullman, and will include a social, wine and beer tasting, served dinner, a program and dancing with classic rock. COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters are encouraged.

Tickets are $125, and available through April 30 at pullmanregional.org/gala, or by calling Stephanie Pierce at the Pullman Regional Hospital Foundation office at (509) 332-2044.

Sun may be contacted at rsun@lmtribune.com or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made possible by the Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.