Intermountain Healthcare has an international reputation for quality improvement in healthcare. The focus goes beyond treating patients, to advancing medicine to redefine better care. Charitable gifts, administered through Intermountain Foundation, are vital to fueling these innovations and needs.
A recent example is a gift from the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation, which is giving new hope to residents of north Utah County diagnosed with prostate, breast, and gynecological cancers.
The Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation recently awarded $338,000 through the Intermountain Foundation to the Cancer Center at American Fork Hospital to make available a cutting-edge form of radiation therapy called High-dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy.
HDR Brachytherapy allows doctors to deliver high doses of radiotherapy to small, specific areas of the body, minimizing exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue, and offering shorter overall treatment time and fewer side effects. Until now, cancer patients in north Utah County have had to choose less effective forms of treatment, or drive long distances to other hospitals in order to receive this treatment.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the opening of the hospital’s radiation vault room, which houses the specialized equipment. At the ceremony, Dr. Brandon Barney, a radiation oncologist at American Fork Hospital, said, “I cannot express the gratitude I feel in my heart today for the Noorda Foundation. Their gift will impact hundreds of people over the next few years.”
Dan Hilgenberg, a patient who recently underwent HDR Brachytherapy for prostate cancer at Utah Valley Hospital, said, “Thank goodness for the treatment and the care I received from Dr. Barney and his team. I now plan on watching my grandchildren raise their children.”