Over $17,000 raised toward purchase of fetal heart monitor for HSCMH

The Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital has ordered a new fetal heart monitor, a critical piece of equipment to help save the lives of babies in Hot Springs County.

The process of acquiring a new fetal heart monitor started about a year ago in Oct. 2014, when the Hospital Foundation Board challenged the Thermopolis community to raise half of the $30,000 price tag. A year later, over $17,000 had been raised, exceeding the $15,000 goal.

Over the last year, there have been a number of events organized in support of the fundraising effort. From the first annual Oktoberfest in 2014 to a mystery theater dinner party at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, local businesses and individuals have stepped up to raise $17,744.

“Beyond my involvement with the Hosptial Foundation Board, I’m excited to help out the hospital,” said Phil Scheel when asked about his role in the project. “I don’t think it’s a big secret that our community hospital is an important part of what makes Thermopolis Thermopolis,” he continued.

The monitor has been ordered and was shipped on Oct. 22. The hospital, which is hosting the next Chamber Meet and Greet, will present the monitor to the public during a special meeting entitled “Celebrating the future, and thanking Thermopolis”.

“We’re going to have a little snapshot of some of the things that we did this last year, community events mostly, and then have the new fetal heart monitor at the Meet and Greet so people can see that,” Scheel said of the Nov. 19 event.

In Scheel’s words, it is important to have the monitor at the event so the community “can come and see what the community has done to help the hospital.”

“It’s just about people with a common goal getting together and making a difference,” he concluded.

Make sure to stop by the hospital on Nov. 19 during the Chamber Meet and Greet at 5:30 p.m. to see the new monitor and celebrate the end of a year of hard work.