Through a four-year fund raising effort, the auxiliary earned $21,000 for the wandering system, which will help keep track of residents in the nursing home. "We're glad we're done raising the money," auxiliary board member Sue Brauchler informed the hospital board on Wednesday, Sept. 27. "It's been a long time."
The wandering system, which would only be used for patients who tend to wander, would use either ankle or wrist bands to trigger locks on doors. Keeping these residents within the Manor would allow them the freedom to move around the nursing home. Right now, residents who tend to wander wear alarms, and their movements must be constantly monitored by nurses. By eliminating the alarms, the nursing home should also get quieter. The wandering system will not be installed until the remodeling project is done in the Manor.
Brauchler and Sandy Kaehler, another board member, briefed the board about the auxiliary's fund raising efforts and the use of the funds. The auxiliary holds bake sales, quilt raffles, dinners, and a yearly golf tournament.
The money they raise goes to several on-going projects, like buying furnishings for clinics, as well as one larger project, like the wandering system. The auxiliary funds the aquarium in the waiting area at the Paynesville Area Medical Clinic and the aviary in the Koronis Manor. The aquarium fascinates children who are waiting for medical appointments, and the aviary allows nursing home residents to watch the birds up close.
The auxiliary also donated a buffer to the housekeeping department recently. Mueller said, "you wouldn't believe how much they appreciated" the buffer.
Next, the auxiliary will be raising funds for a children's table and chair set for the satellite clinics in Belgrade and Watkins.
They haven't decided on their next major project yet. Two ideas are to decorate a chapel in the Manor after the remodeling project or to provide some of the furnishings for the two new birthing rooms.
At the hospital board meeting, board chairman Don Thomes commended the auxiliary for their work and thanked the two women for coming.