Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital Gift Shop proceeds have provided for the SBA Auxiliary to donate $45,000 to the hospital to purchase the latest technology in vascular imaging, the VeinViewer by Luminetx.

The patented VeinViewer is a revolutionary technology that projects the location of a patient’s subcutaneous vasculature directly on the surface of the skin, providing a vascular road map in real time.

The Auxiliary paid $45,000 toward the purchase of three portable infrared vein viewers. During the purchase process, SBA officials found a free standing model for $28,000. The hospital purchased the free standing model and applied the remaining money toward the purchase of a second viewer.

SBA Volunteer Coordinator Karen Hockett announced the equipment purchase at a recent Auxiliary meeting. Hockett praised the efforts of Auxiliary volunteers, especially those volunteers who work in the Gift Shop, saying, “Through your many hours of volunteering and providing assistance in the overall operation of the shop, this purchase allows our hospital to truly have an impact on patient care. With VeinViewer we have the potential to not only reduce the number of sticks, but also the levels of stress and discomfort associated with multiple sticks for our medical professionals, the patient and the patient’s family.”

Gayle Arnett, SBA president and CEO, explained, “Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital is the first hospital in the area to use this latest technology. The VeinViewer provides medical professionals with non-invasive adjunct technology for clinical treatments and procedures including, but not limited to, IV insertion and routine venipuncture commonly performed by nurses. Experts estimate that more than one billion venipunctures are performed annually. The Veinviewer makes our patients’ vasculature visible to the naked eye. This technology has helped us increase the efficiency of our system and success rate of our needlesticks. Anything we do to improve our efficiency and patient outcomes impacts our bottom line and allows us to reallocate our resources.

“This technology is changing the standard of compassionate care,” Arnett added. “We believe it will become a new standard of care throughout the world. We’re thrilled that Susan B. Allen Hospital is joining the ranks of multiple premier health care facilities nationwide that have adopted the VeinViewer technology.”