Grant brings transport necessity to Mayo Clinic
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FAIRMONT - With a grant from the Fairmont Community Hospital Foundation, the Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont purchased a Broda Chair to move patients while keeping them comfortable and secure.
Mayo Clinic Nursing Supervisor Raven Cain said the chair works essentially like a fancy wheelchair.
"For patients who can’t sit upright in a wheelchair for transportation, it has the buckles across that’ll help secure them in there," she said. "It also tilts all the way back to almost a full bed, so we can slide a patient from their actual hospital bed into this chair safely, tilt them up to secure them for transport."
In addition, Cain said the chair has multiple points of movement to keep patients as comfortable and secure as possible. Inpatient Social Worker Stephani Geerdes said the chair is needed for patients with high needs and high dependencies. In her department, she said it is used a lot for hospice-related patients.
"Patients that are end of life that want to be able to get back home again for some hospice level of care, but they wouldn’t be able to tolerate riding in a car or sitting up in a wheelchair to get home," she said.
The reason for the grant request, Geerdes said, is the lack of availability for a chair like this in the general area.
"There’s only one van service out of Mankato that had one Broda Chair for the entire region," she said. "We would sometimes have to wait a day or more to get a ride for somebody to get to where they wanted to be without taking emergency vehicles out of service."
Because of this, Geerdes said it would result in unnecessary days in the hospital for people.
"When bed availability is tight and we have patients in the emergency room that need to be hospitalized, if we have somebody that’s here and their discharge is delayed because we don’t have a way to get them to the next place, it slows down the whole process for everyone," she said. "We have a hard time taking care of people who need to be in the hospital because we have people in the hospital that are just waiting for a ride."
In addition, the last few years have seen the situation for wheelchair and stretcher van transportation options change, including the closure of MN Para Transit in August of 2025.
After receiving the request and meeting together around a month ago, the request for $8,000 was approved and Mayo Clinic received the Broda Chair. To facilitate this, Fairmont Community Hospital Foundation Director Kayla Caven said it will help enhance local healthcare.
"Having it here locally in Fairmont is going to reduce the delays when patients are discharged from the hospital or emergency department and need to be transported wherever they need to go," she said. "It also means that patients and families aren’t going to have to absorb the additional cost associated with bringing that specialized equipment in."
After having the Broda Chair for around a month, Geerdes said it is rewarding to know that when their patients have high-acuity needs, they can be as comfortable as possible.
"I think they’re more comfortable in this chair than they are on a stretcher because they’re not laying flat on this skinny little stretcher," she said. "They’re surrounded. We prop pillows and blankets and it's kind of like being snuggled in a recliner."
Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Physician Tim Slama said they greatly appreciate the support of the FCH Foundation.
"Their willingness to support the technology, the equipment and the needs for the patients, so we can provide as best care as we can, keep the care close to home, and keep our patients safe and well cared for," he said.