The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is granting almost $5-million to medical facilities in five states– including Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre– as part of an effort to save the lives of COVID-19 patients and protect the healthcare workers caring for them.
A little over $4.7-million ($4,711,481) in funding will be distributed across South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska to pay for 367 LUCAS mechanical CPR devices to be deployed to hospitals caring for COVID-19 patients. Two of the devices will be in Pierre. All of them will stay at their deployed locations after the pandemic as part of each hospitals’ cardiac system of care.
Research has shown cardiac damage in as many as 1 in 5 COVID-19 patients, leading to heart failure and death even among those who show no signs of respiratory distress. Among patients who recover, many could have long-term effects from such heart damage.
