Masonic Care Community to use grant funding for a vital-signs monitoring system

UTICA, N.Y. — Masonic Care Community (MCC) of Utica will use a $3,200 grant for a new vital-signs monitoring system for MCC’s Health Pavilion.

The Health Pavilion provides skilled-nursing care for more than 250 senior residents.

The Slocum Dickson Foundation of New Hartford awarded the grant funding. It works “to provide funding for health and medical projects that focus on education and training for the advancement of medicine,” per MCC’s Wednesday news release.

Vital-signs monitoring is “critically important” in helping to care for MCC’s elders, the organization said.

“Vital signs can provide our health-care team with early signs that a resident may be experiencing an illness or some type of medical issue,” Tammy Wheeler, MCC’s administrator who oversees the Health Pavilion, said. “The vital signs monitoring technology helps our staff to capture vital signs data more quickly, and more accurately.”

Increased efficiency with vital-signs monitoring can help provide additional time for the staff to spend with the residents, versus time spent on data collection, Mara Mulligan, director of marketing and communications at MCC, said.

“While we have several monitors on hand, the grant from Slocum Dickson is extremely helpful because it assists us in increasing our capacity to provide monitoring services to a greater number of the residents we serve,” Mulligan added.

The Masonic Care Community provides skilled nursing, rehabilitation services, adult residential care, independent-living options, home care, and operates a child-care center. It employs a staff of more than 800 and provides services for more than 600 people annually on its campus.