Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties gives $16,500 grant to SEMC Foundation

UTICA, N.Y. — The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, Inc. (The Foundation) recently awarded a $16,500 grant to the St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) Foundation to purchase a BloodTrack Emerge system for the SEMC Laboratory.

The BloodTrack Emerge system allows the SEMC Lab to store blood products in the emergency department or operating room to provide immediate access, while also maintaining the security and traceability of the blood inventory, according to a news release. The system seeks to increase patient safety by maintaining control of emergency blood, decrease time to access blood in clinical areas, and reduce blood inventory and waste.

“Our ability to purchase this system means that when our staff members are presented with a situation where a patient is losing an excess amount of blood, we have access to an emergency blood supply, which can mean the difference between life and death,” Andrea LaGatta, director of development for the SEMC Foundation, said in the release.

Since 1952, The Foundation has invested $52 million into Oneida and Herkimer counties. The Foundation partners with various nonprofits to make investments toward economic development, education, health, and arts and culture.

“We felt this was an important investment as the new system will provide our community members with safer, more technologically advanced services when receiving care at the [St. Elizabeth] Medical Center,” Laura Cohen, community investment manager for The Foundation, said.

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