A Springfield-based center dedicated to improving heart-valve surgery and a program to reduce the number of hospitalized patients who become delirious received grants last week from the Memorial Medical Center Foundation.
The two initiatives were among nine applications funded with more than $268,000 from the foundation.
A $61,792 grant will establish the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s Center for Valvular Heart Disease.
Directed by heart surgeon Dr. Christina Vassileva, the center will educate doctors in central Illinois about the benefits of diagnosing valve problems early so more patients can consider valve-repair surgery.
“By intervening earlier, I think it will be to the patients’ benefit,” she said.
Vassileva, a native of Bulgaria who arrived at SIU in October, received specialized training in minimally invasive valve repair surgery during her cardiothoracic-surgery fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Heart-valve problems often result from heart attacks and heart disease, Vassileva said.
The center’s work could result in longer lives for patients and savings for the health-care system through fewer medical complications and shorter hospital stays, she said.
Delirium treatment
Memorial Medical Center’s “delirium steering committee” received a $55,760 grant to train more than 400 nurses working at patients’ bedsides on how to prevent and treat delirium.
A core of Memorial staff members have been working since 2007 to improve detection of delirium, which is defined as a state of confusion that begins to affect a patient over the course of about 24 hours.
The condition often is associated with an infection or critical illness and can be triggered by a surgical procedure, according to Jennifer Bond, a Memorial nurse and nursing practice development facilitator.
It’s unclear what causes delirium, but studies have shown that patients who experience periods of delirium have a hard time understanding instructions or participating in their recovery, Bond said.
As a result, these patients have a higher risk of complications, she said.
Sometimes, medicine can be used to prevent or shorten delirium. And because delirium is related to vision and hearing, delirium can be prevented by making sure patients have their glasses on and hearing aids in, Bond said.
Getting patients out of bed as much as possible and making sure they are hydrated also can prevent or stop delirium, she said.
Nurses receive limited instruction on delirium during their educations.
“This is really something you need to do on the job,” Bond said.
An earlier $9,365 grant from the Memorial foundation helped the hospital launch a pilot program in which a limited number of nurses were taught the risk factors, signs and symptoms of delirium, as well as prevention and intervention strategies.
The new grant will allow that program to be expanded throughout the hospital, said Tina Weitzel, another Memorial nursing practice development facilitator.
Much of the foundation’s grant funds come from Memorial’s annual Festival of Trees, as well as donations from Memorial employees, according to foundation executive director Elena Kezelis.
Since 1984, the foundation has given out almost $5.9 million in health-related grants.
Dean Olsen can be reached at 788-1543.
Other grants awarded last week by the Memorial Medical Center Foundation
*$48,300 to Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s division of plastic surgery for a study to identify which patients respond best to injection therapy for Raynaud’s disease, a condition that causes some extremities of the body, such as fingers and toes, to feel numb and cool in response to cold temperatures or stress.
*$35,149 to Memorial Home Services to buy specialized monitors that will allow patients with congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to be monitored in their homes.
*$27,000 to the Springfield School District and the Benson-Henry Mind Body Institute at Harvard Medical School’s Mass General Hospital for a workshop to train teachers on coping skills, followed by a day of demonstrations with student groups. The target population is fourth- through sixth-graders.
*$21,150 to SIU’s department of internal medicine for research to detect resistance to vancomycin, an antibiotic, in strains of staphylococcus bacteria. Identifying antibiotics that can combat the so-called “superbugs” is increasingly important as bacteria develop antibiotic resistance.
*$10,630 to SIU’s division of plastic surgery for a study to evaluate the use of an artificial compound to treat large wounds and deep-tissue loss in trauma, burns and simulated combat injuries.
*$4,380 to Memorial’s Regional Cancer Center for a two-day program of end-of-life and palliative care training sessions.
*$4,195 to the SIU Center for Family Medicine to help launch a program to address chronic-disease management and be recognized as a patient-centered medical home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
Read the original article from The State Journal-Register.
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