Projects are being developed because our community CARES!
Our donors are a driving force in our ability to care for the communities we serve, especially those who are vulnerable, and for that we are so grateful. We want to share how much it continues to accomplish.
Each project below is made possible by the generosity of our supporters. We could not do this without them!
Stay tuned for more updates and upcoming projects!
Make a Donation
Thank you for taking the time to support our local foundation – your contribution will fund local projects right here for the health care of the CHI St. Alexius Health Williston area community!
List of Projects
Renovations Begin
May 2nd Progress Update
May 4th Progress Update
Losing your hair. As if cancer isn’t enough to deal with, this can be one of the scariest parts of facing chemotherapy. While not all chemotherapy drugs cause hair loss, many do. CHI St. Alexius Health now offers a way for cancer patients to help retain their hair.
A treatment technique called scalp cooling involves, quite simply, wearing a cooling cap while receiving chemotherapy. Cooling the scalp to between 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit has two effects on the scalp, and thus, the hair.
First, cooling the scalp reduces blood flow to the area by around 40%, so less blood containing chemotherapy reaches hair follicles. Second, cooling causes hair follicle cells to go dormant. Dormant cells do not rapidly divide, interfering with how chemotherapy interacts with hair follicles.
Results vary depending on the type of chemotherapy a person receives, but overall 50% or more of a person’s hair may be retained. The treatment technique also improves hair regrowth by protecting the follicle, which helps hair regrow quickly after treatment.
As this state of the art treatment is not covered by insurance companies at this time, the Foundation is proud to help offset some of these costs to our patients by making $10,000 available to ease the financial burden of this burden for our patients.
Radiology is a key diagnostic and treatment tool for injuries and conditions ranging from heart disease to cancer, and everything in between. Advanced radiology technology helps us provide excellent care right here in Williston. A project tallying $898,644, and funded entirely by donations and sponsors, has brought some key pieces of radiology equipment to CHI St. Alexius Health.
Thanks to this support, the Radiology department was able to update its x-ray and fluoroscopy equipment to all digital radiography. For x-rays, digital technology makes it possible to have images for everything from bone breaks to heart failure immediately. That means technicians do not have to process cassettes to see if the x-ray was done correctly.
Fluoroscopy, a special application of x-rays, is a technique that creates real-time imaging of structures in motion or enhanced by a contrast agent. It’s used for angiograms, placing stents in narrowed or blocked blood vessels, inserting catheters into blood vessels, and much more. Digital technology increases the speed of how fluoroscopy images are created, plus minimizes the dose of radiation.
We were also able to upgrade to new cardiac echo ultrasound technology which increases the number of heart studies it’s possible to do. The radiology department is doing between 700 and 800 CT scans a month between inpatient and outpatient cases.
