The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced Monday a multimillion-dollar effort to save the lives of COVID-19 patients and protect the frontline healthcare workers caring for them.

The grant will fund the purchase of a second LUCAS mechanical chest compression device for Prairie Lakes Healthcare System.

A total of $4,711,481 in funding will be distributed across five upper-midwestern states to pay for 367 LUCAS mechanical CPR devices to be deployed to hospitals caring for patients during the pandemic and beyond.

“These devices are vital because we don’t want frontline healthcare workers to choose between trying to save a patient or risking exposure to themselves and others to the Coronavirus,” said Walter Panzirer, a trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “LUCAS has been a proven, effective tool in saving lives during cardiac arrest, and having more of them available during this pandemic will save even more lives, including those of the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.”

Research has shown cardiac damage in as many as 1 in 5 COVID-19 patients, leading to heart failure and death even among those who show no signs of respiratory distress. Among patients who recover, many could have long-term effects from such heart damage.

“This LUCAS device will save lives,” said K.C. DeBoer, Prairie Lakes Healthcare System President and CEO. “This generous gift is an important tool in our tool kit as we prepare for the COVID-19 cases to peak in the region. Patients receive the best care when our team is well prepared. We are very grateful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for their dedication to patients and healthcare workers.”

The rise in cardiac complications caused by COVID-19 exposes both patients and healthcare workers to greater risk, as hands-on CPR can be needed for extended periods and personal protective equipment can become less effective in keeping the virus from spreading to medical providers.

Mechanical CPR has been adopted by emergency medical responders and many hospitals around the globe, initially due to its ability to deliver extended CPR in compliance with American Heart Association guidelines. Multiple studies have demonstrated equivalence to high-performance CPR, as well as increased provider safety and higher rates of adequate compressions for patients in transport situations. Recently, the Department of Defense COVID-19 Practice Management Guide identified the LUCAS chest compression system as the best practice for managing patients in cardiac arrest to reduce the risk of exposure to care providers.

The Helmsley Charitable Trust is partnering with medical facilities in South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Nebraska to ensure the devices are in place before the peak of COVID-19 hits. The devices will remain in place after the pandemic as part of the hospitals’ cardiac system of care.

“We were able to go from concept to delivery of the devices in two weeks, and that’s been an incredible effort of teamwork with the manufacturer and the hospitals to get them in place ahead of the peak needs,” said Panzirer. “It’s wonderful to see competing entities working together during a national crisis for the good of all.”

About the LUCAS^® Cardiac Care Project

Since 2015, the Helmsley Charitable Trust has given nearly $33 million in grants to help hospitals and first responders in seven upper-midwestern states purchase over 2,400 LUCAS devices, which improve survivability in sudden cardiac arrest victims. The LUCAS^® Chest Compression System (LUCAS^®) delivers consistent, reliable and uninterrupted chest compressions which allows healthcare providers to concentrate on other equally important aspects of patient care; providing patients with the best opportunity of survival. The LUCAS^® device virtually frees up one healthcare worker to perform other essential tasks.

About the Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $2.6 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program funds innovative projects that use information technologies to connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas, and provide state-of-the-art training for rural hospitals and EMS personnel. To date, this program has awarded more than $452 million to organizations and initiatives in the upper Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, and Montana.  For more information, visit www.helmsleytrust.org. 

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System (PLHS) and Sodexo, the provider of nutritional and environmental services at PLHS, are pleased to announce a new General Manager, Caitlin Bach.

Caitlin Bach grew up in the area and currently resides in the rural Watertown area with her husband and two children. Bach graduated from Lake Area Technical Institute with her marketing and business management degree. She was most recently the Nutritional Services Manager and brings twelve years experience at PLHS to her new role as General Manager.

“I am excited to grow my career at Prairie Lakes,” said Bach. “I look forward to building a strong team and giving our patients, visitors, and staff the best quality care and service. The leadership team has already taught me great skills during my time at Prairie Lakes, and I am grateful to join and continue learning from the great leaders here.”

The Watertown Area Task Force is looking for crafty people who want to help during this pandemic by sewing cloth masks.  

Gracious community members who are able to make these cloth masks are asked to please use the “Olson Mask Pattern”. The masks can be made from any Cotton or Cotton Blend material such as T-shirts or bed sheets. If elastic is not available, the ties may be made from fabric.

The pattern is available by clicking the button below. Please turn the masks into the Salvation Army located at 621 4th St SE in Watertown. They can be dropped off Monday-Friday between 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.

  pdf Olson Mask Pattern - Homesewn Masks (1.10 MB)

 Please turn the masks into the Salvation Army located at 621 4th St SE in Watertown. They can be dropped off Monday-Friday between 9:00am-5:00pm.

More COVID-19 Information

Updates from Prairie Lakes Community Updates - "2020 Watertown COVID-19" Facebook Page

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System (PLHS) is committed to supporting our staff while we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our people make the difference at PLHS, we are committed to taking care of employees now and into the future,” said Jim Redlinger, PLHS Board of Directors’ Chair.

During these challenging times, PLHS has enacted a plan to achieve that vision called “Prairie Lakes Cares Plan”, which will ensure income stability, guarantee the accrual of employee benefits, protect staff with COVID-19 exposures, and safeguard organization needs through the pandemic event. PLHS will redeploy staff with reduced hours and those who cannot be redeployed will be able to access the "Prairie Lakes Cares Plan", which will have an allocated numbers of hours for staff to access in these situations.

 “This pandemic is unique and recognizing staff during these challenging times is a top priority,” said K.C. DeBoer, PLHS’s President and CEO. “We want staff to know that we will care for them like family.  If we are to emerge stronger and more resilient to meet our community’s healthcare challenges, we recognize that this cannot happen without supporting all of our staff during these trying times.”

According to DeBoer, “I commend the Board of Directors in their visionary leadership in supporting our staff.  They recognize our health care providers are demonstrating tremendous commitment to patients’ health. We are so grateful to our entire team for their dedication during these extraordinary circumstances.”

Read COVID-19 News