News

Since its inception in 1969, the Grande Ronde Hospital Foundation has raised money for patient-centered care projects at Grande Ronde Hospital. For nearly 50 years, more than $2.8 million Foundation-raised dollars have been donated to the Hospital and its clinics. Our mission is to ensure patients have access to state-of-the art equipment, housed in upgraded, modern facilities that are staffed by providers armed with up-to-date certifications and the latest in training.

Foundation-funded projects have varied widely in scope and size – some more noticeable to the public than others. The greatest benefit to funding these projects – beyond the positive impact to patients’ personal health and well-being – is hearing about that impact from our patient's themselves. For example, we know that since it’s completion in 2012, more than 360 patients per year have flown in or out from our on-site helistop, giving them quicker access to life-saving care. Another project is the Scout Hearing Monitor that was funded and then implemented at our Otolaryngology (ENT) clinic in 2016. This monitor provides infants access to hearing functionality testing right here at home. Parents no longer have to travel away from home for more than two hours to take their babies to a facility with this type of equipment.

In 2017, the Foundation chose to fund a new 3D mammography machine with significant enhancements over the static image of two-dimensional mammography scanning for earlier detection of breast cancers and abnormalities. The new images provide radiologists with approximately 70 one-millimeter image sections in “slices” from one side of the breast tissue all the way through to the other. The improved imaging from this technology has reduced call-back appointments for “second-look” follow-up testing by more than half. This alone has saved countless patients from the anxiety and fear while waiting for a follow-up appointment and the results from a second scan.

Soon after the new equipment was installed, friends and family of Foundation donors began sharing with them their own, very personal stories of how the new mammography technology had impacted their health care for the better. In some cases, the new technology had detected very small cancers that may not have been detected as early through traditional mammogram technology.

One of these stories belongs to Kim Hulse, who has chosen to share her story with the hope it will inspire others: Inspire them to share their own stories, to say thank you, to recognize their caregivers, or to encourage others to support the Foundation. More than anyone, Kim understands how important it is to our quality of life that the Grande Ronde Hospital Foundation’s mission is to make life-changing and life-saving projects like 3D Mammography available in rural area like ours.

Please watch Kim’s video below, and if you have a story of your own, or would like to express thanks to a provider or employee, please reach out to the Foundation at 541-963-1431 or foundation@grh.org.