Roper St. Francis Foundation Awarded Two Grants by the Duke Endowment

The Roper St. Francis Foundation, the fundraising arm of Roper St. Francis Healthcare (RSFH), is pleased to announce that it has received two grants totaling $525,000 from The Duke Endowment:

• RSFH, in partnership with Trident Technical College (TTC), has been awarded $275,000 to establish the area’s first Nursing Resource Center.

• The second award, in the amount of $250,000, was presented to RSFH to establish a Bedside Barcode System. This award is among the first to be presented from The Duke Endowment’s newly developed Internet Technology Resource initiative.

The Nursing Resource Center’s purpose is two-fold: to increase the number of registered nurses graduating each year, and also the number of minority nurses entering the work force. The Center is expected to open in September 2006. It will be located on the Main Campus of Trident Technical College.

“This grant will help us make strides in effectively addressing the national nursing shortage and its impact on our local health care community,” said Muriel Horton, Dean of Nursing at TTC.

“The Nursing Resource Center will offer students support in the form of one-on-one assistance, computer-assisted instruction and the opportunity to work in study groups and on special projects. Nursing experts from local hospitals will be available to tutor students in specific content areas. We plan to take a holistic approach and support students wherever they are struggling, whether it be academic, personal or financial,” added Horton.

The Bedside Barcode System will provide nurses at Roper and

St. Francis hospitals with advanced bar-coding technology, which allows medications to be scanned and validated for use with individual patients. The bedside barcode system utilizes technology to ensure the “5 rights” of medication administration (right patient, medication, route, dose and frequency). The new technology is expected to be in place and ready for use this time next year.

“We’re finding new ways for technology to support the highest quality of care and safety for our patients,” said Mike Taylor, Chief Information Officer for RSFH. “This is an exciting development not only for RSFH but hospitals everywhere.”

Established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is one of the nation’s largest private foundations. Its mission is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children’s welfare, and spiritual life.

“The Duke Endowment is pleased to provide funding to Roper St. Francis Foundation for these important projects,” said Mary L. Piepenbring, Director of the Endowment’s health care division. “We applaud their innovation and commitment to providing quality healthcare to all Lowcountry residents.”

For more information, about the Roper St. Francis Foundation, please call 843-720-1216. For more information about TTC’s Nursing program, call 843-574-6138.