Houston, MO—Texas County Memorial Hospital’s Medical Complex just recently received two new pieces of equipment to provide additional screenings for area pediatric patients. The new equipment includes a hearing screener and a spot vision screener. Purchases for both new pieces of essential pediatric care equipment were made possible by grants from three area organizations, totaling $10,500.
The Bess Spiva Timmons Foundation awarded Texas County Memorial Hospital’s Healthcare Foundation with a $5,000 grant to go towards the purchase of the $6,250 spot vision screener.
Simmons Bank awarded Texas County Memorial Hospital’s Healthcare Foundation with a $2,500 grant to go towards the purchase of the $4,144 hearing screener.
The Mindel Family Foundation awarded Texas County Memorial Hospital’s Healthcare Foundation with a $3,000 grant to cover the remaining expenses of both new pieces of equipment and cover the costs of the needed supplies to go with each.
Shortly after the new units arrived, they quickly became an essential tool to improving patient care for the pediatric patients in the Medical Complex.
The new pieces of equipment will allow hearing and vision screenings for pediatric patients to take place in the clinic anytime they are needed.
Prior to the purchase of the new equipment, pediatrician, Teresa Loden, DO, and the other clinic providers, would have to refer their pediatric patients to Rolla or even further away for screenings since those services were not previously available in Houston.
“We are now able to screen our pediatric patients right here in our clinic,” Loden said, adding that sometimes the drive to other locations and the amount of time it would take to get an appointment was a hardship for many of their families.
“We are very grateful for the support from our community to be able to provide these screenings for our patients,” Loden said.
“The Healthcare Foundation was pleased to partner with the Timmons Foundation, Simmons Bank and the Mindel Family Foundation to provide additional tools for our staff to use to improve patient healthcare and outcomes at TCMH,” Jay Gentry, TCMH Healthcare Foundation director said.
The Timmons Foundation is a private family foundation of the descendants of Bess Spiva Timmons. The late Dr. Joe L. Spears, a long-time family practice physician from the Cabool area, is a past president of the Timmons Foundation Board. Tim Spears, son of Dr. Joe L. Spears, assisted in obtaining the funding for TCMH through his family’s foundation.
The Mindel Family Foundation is a national charitable foundation and local residents, David and Nicole Johnson of Yukon, are on the board of directors. The non-profit organization was formed in 2016 and was named after Nicole’s late father, David Mindel. The family foundation focuses its giving efforts in areas where it can help children.
