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Greek Orthodox Ladies donate life-saving technology to Children's Hospital of Iowa
Posted October 1, 2004
IOWA CITY -- Members of the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society recently presented a $30,000 check to Children's Hospital of Iowa leaders to underwrite the cost of a new portable echocardiography unit for use by pediatric cardiology specialists in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Lori Voutiritsas, president of the Metropolis of Chicago Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, and Susan Regos, vice president of the National Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, and several local chapter representatives, including Angie Panagos, president of the St. John the Baptist Greek Ladies Philoptochos Society, and Rev. Father Basil Hickman, attended the presentation. The funds will be used to purchase a portable echocardiography unit that will be dedicated for use within the PICU. Leaders of Children's Hospital of Iowa, a "hospital within a hospital" at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, said the gift will enhance the treatment of critically ill children. "This generous donation will allow us to have our own cardiac ultrasound machine for emergency diagnosis of life-threatening heart conditions in our patients," said Fred Lamb, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and medical director of the PICU. "This will save time and improve the efficacy of our interventions. It is also a very useful teaching tool." Donna Katen-Bahensky, director and CEO of UI Hospitals and Clinics, who accepted the donation on behalf of the Children's Hospital of Iowa, added, "This is a much appreciated gift, because our doctors and staff do a magnificent job of treating children from all over the Midwest, and this new equipment will improve the quality of our care even more." The PICU team cares for more than 700 patients a year in the 16-bed unit. The PICU provides private rooms that are all equipped to allow parents to stay in the room with their child if they wish. PICU staff and physicians encourage parents to join them in rounds and to participate in their child's care at any time. A multidisciplinary team of respiratory therapists, social workers, dietitians, clinical pharmacists, child life specialists, music therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses and physicians provides advanced care for their patients. Children's Hospital of Iowa at UI Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City is the state's longest-serving children's hospital. More than 130,000 children receive care at the Children's Hospital of Iowa and its statewide network of outreach clinics each year. The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society gift is part of the UI's $1 billion comprehensive campaign, which will run through 2005 and is being conducted under the guidance of the UI Foundation. Named Good. Better. Best. Iowa: The Campaign to Advance Our Great University, the seven-year effort is raising private funds to help launch a variety of initiatives across the university, substantially increase the number of UI scholarships and endowed faculty positions, support new educational and research facilities, build the UI's endowment and fund outreach and service programs to benefit Iowans. The UI Foundation is acknowledged by the UI as a preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the university. For more information about the Good. Better. Best. Iowa campaign, visit its web site at www.GoodBetterBestIowa.org. Contact Information
Sheila Baldwin Additional information about supporting the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics also is available on this site. |