New Anesthesia Machine Protects Rural Healthcare Options

The Steele Memorial Medical Center, located in Salmon, ID, provides more than 1,600 surgeries per year. It is the only surgical center within a 100-mile radius, making it crucial that the hospital auxiliary be capable of providing high-quality healthcare at all times. 

One of the anesthesia machines machines at the hospital auxiliary was 20 years old - 13 years older than is typically expected for a machine of its kind. Additionally, operating with three anesthesia machines manufactured in three different eras created additional challenges for staff, who had to be able to know how to operate the three separate machines. Inconsistent machinery has been identified as a major contributor to avoidable errors, and both the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and The Joint Commission recommend that hospitals standardize anesthesia equipment. 

Steele Memorial reached out to CHC Foundation requesting a grant to help purchase a new anesthesia machine, one that would match the medical center's newest and most up-to-date machine, helping bring the operating center into alignment with recommendations for standardized equipment as well as ensuring that there were no disruptions to planned surgical procedures if the older machine stopped working.