FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 22, 2013                                             Contact: Heather Thurston, 970.237.7405, hht1@pvhs.org

Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation receives grant for Innovative Research from Erion Foundation   

A grant from the Erion Foundation to the Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation will support advances in medicine through innovative research.

The $7,000 award will allow health care professionals to understand, treat and predict disease through research. 

A program of the Medical Center of the Rockies (MCR) Foundation, the Innovative Research Fund serves as an incubator for clinical research and innovation. The research focuses primarily on cardiovascular medicine and trauma along with clinical trials that have potential to improve the health of residents in our region. The biotech industry and scientists at universities in northern Colorado collaborate with clinicians at MCR to produce benefits for health care which supports the local economy.

“Funding for research enables physicians, scientists, and local entrepreneurs to unite their expertise toward better treatment options and outcomes,” said George Hayes, MCR president and CEO.  

The Erion Foundation’s support of the Innovative Research Fund recognizes the value of nonprofit and business partnerships and the potential for outcomes that improve the community through multiple entities. 

Current research at MCR includes a study of a specific chemical in the body and how it contributes to irreversible shock from hemorrahage in trauma patients. A previous collaboration between the Healthy Hearts Club and the Colorado State University Department of Health and Exercise Science included an analysis of 20 years of data to identify risk factors among children in northern Colorado school districts. Based on the findings, the next step is to design an intervention program targeted to help not just the children but whole families that are at risk for cardiovascular disease.

About Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation

Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation offers opportunities for donors to help sustain and grow the state-of-the-art cardiac and trauma services that serve our entire region. Medical Center of the Rockies is a 166-bed regional medical center with a full spectrum of services and specializing in heart and trauma care. With more than 1,500 physicians and employees and more than 300 community volunteers, MCR cares for more than 7,600 inpatients and 111,100 outpatients annually.

 -- Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation --