The Choptank Electric Trust of Denton has made another substantial grant to McCready Memorial Hospital -- this time to fund a heavy-duty patient lift.
The $3,800 lift accommodates patients weighing up to 600 lbs. It is used in the hospital's medical-surgical unit to transfer patients safely out of bed and on to a stretcher, scale, wheelchair or other equipment.
Using the lift benefits patients and staff members alike. The equipment should make patient transfers safer and eliminate the potential of back injuries for the staff. One or two people can operate the new lift as opposed to three or four who were needed to move some patients before.
The Choptank Electric Trust has donated over $20,400 to help McCready Memorial Hospital and the adjacent Alice B. Tawes Nursing & Rehabilitation Center purchase equipment.
The trust funds grants through its "Operation Round-Up" program. This giving program allows Choptank Electric Cooperative member-consumers to round up their electricity bill payments to the nearest dollar with the extra pennies going to charitable grants. Grants benefit worthwhile community causes within the nine-county area the Choptank Electric Cooperative serves.
If a customer's bill is $6.54, it is rounded up to $7.00 and the additional 46 cents is contributed to the Choptank Trust. The average consumer's annual contribution is about $6.00. All administrative costs of the program are absorbed by the Choptank Electric Cooperative.
PHOTO CAPTION: Respiratory therapist
Cathy Sanders demonstrates how a patient is positioned in the lift for Choptank Trust board member
Robert Fitzgerald of Princess Anne and medical-surgical unit supervisor
Stephanie Howard, R.N.