In the second quarter of 2021, thanks to the community’s support, Morton Plant Mease Health Care Foundation granted your not-for-profit hospitals more than $3.5 million in support of nine programs and six capital projects. Please refer to the following descriptions highlighting key grants supported in the second quarter of this year:

Omega Endoscopy Suite at Morton Plant Hospital
This summer Morton Plant Hospital will begin construction on building a new Omega Endoscopy Suite that will support the hospital’s increasing volume in complex pulmonary and gastrointestinal cases. Scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, this state-of-the-art room will allow for higher definition image quality and more accurate fluoroscopy, while reducing the amount of radiation exposure to the patient and clinical team.

Nursing Education and Simulators for SimLab
Simulation technology provides our nursing education team with the opportunity to practice skills to become competent in performing difficult and critical care that is necessary to be a safe practitioner. To create a realistic clinical environment in the hospital setting, new equipment including an emergency crash cart, mobile computer carts, vital signs monitors, and simulators will be used to practice skills and promote the use of critical thinking. 

Healthy Delivery Meals Care Program
This program is designed to help provide a one-month supply of fresh-made, home-delivered meals and nutrition services to 50 post-discharge heart failure patients, resulting in fewer hospitalizations and readmissions. The patients will be provided nutritional meals that benefit their health and ideally help equip them with a foundation for healthy eating that they can continue after the 30 days.

Monitors for Mease Dunedin Hospital’s PACU
To help transition patients easily from high to low acuity, new patient monitors were funded for the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) at Mease Dunedin Hospital. The monitors check heart rate, heart rhythm, blood pressure and oxygenation.

da Vinci XI Surgical System for Mease Countryside Hospital
Robotically-assisted surgery, compared to open surgeries, are minimally invasive and can provide the patient with the added benefits of less blood loss, minimal scarring, less trauma to the body, shorter length of stay and lowering the risk of infection, resulting in faster recovery, fewer complications and overall improved outcomes. The system also allows surgeons better visualization, full use of their wrists, and better body ergonomics as they are generally sitting rather than standing. This helps reduce small, unintended hand motions that can develop with long operative times.

Spiritual Care Education Center
Morton Plant Mease is accredited for providing Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) by the nationally recognized organization The Association of Clinical Pastoral Education. Grant funding will help renovate a designated space to enable the program to develop more continuity and consistency in the education process. Our CPE program hosts residents and interns from a wide range of religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. 

Madonna Ptak Center for Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders Clinic
Provides comprehensive care to patients with Alzheimer's and other memory loss disorders using a multi-disciplinary approach with the goal of reducing the long-term impact of memory disorders and helping the patient live a more functional life. This Clinic enhances our position to provide memory disorders patients with the best care possible and include them in clinical research trials as appropriate and continue to offer access to those who cannot afford care.

To learn more about the projects funded by your community investments at the not-for-profit hospitals of Morton Plant Mease, please contact Eric Barsema, Director of Community Impact, at (727) 461-8647 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..