Adirondack Health celebrates ribbon cutting for new fetal heart monitoring system

SARANAC LAKE – On May 17, Adirondack Health held a ribbon cutting for its new state-of-the-art digital fetal heart monitoring system at the Stafford New Life Center at Adirondack Medical Center.

The Countess Alicia Spaulding Paolozzi Foundation provided a $100,000 matching grant to help cover the cost of the new system, which replaces the current paper system. The new monitor will help detect any fetal heart rate distress earlier and increase patient comfort significantly.

Mothers will now be free to move around their rooms, and Adirondack Health’s delivery teams can check on babies from a central monitoring location. In addition, the mobile technology will enable doctors to keep an eye on progress even while seeing other patients.

“Countess Paolozzi cared deeply about the Adirondacks from her time summering at Birch Island on Upper St. Regis Lake,” said Nigel Redden, president of the Spaulding Paolozzi Foundation. “When our trustees visited Adirondack Health, we were all very impressed with the facility, the enthusiasm of the staff, and the organization’s commitment to first-rate healthcare. Making this grant seemed like a wonderful way for our foundation to continue Countess Paolozzi’s philanthropic efforts to support the women of the Adirondacks.”

Due to the steady growth of the Women’s Health program at Adirondack Medical Center, the number of babies delivered here has increased to nearly 200 per year. The hospital’s rural population has unique challenges, such as higher-than-state-average occurrences of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and opioid abuse -- all of which increase the risk of complications during delivery. In addition, the hospital is more than two hours away from a neo-natal intensive care unit, which makes it critically important to catch fetal heart rate distress early. This project will have lifelong benefits for mothers and children in the Adirondack Park.

“Thank you to the Spaulding Paolozzi Foundation and every other organization and individual who helped fund this critical project,” said Emily Moulton, annual giving coordinator at the Adirondack Health Foundation. “With the support of our community, this new system will help to ensure safe delivery of our tiniest, most vulnerable patients for years to come.”