- Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare's 41st-annual Golden Gala raises $1 million each year.
- This year's Gala will fund ECMO, an artificial life support for people whose lungs or heart are failing.
- Watch now to hear a medical expert explain why TMH does not currently have enough ECMO technology.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare held its 41st annual Golden Gala here at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center to raise funds for ECMO, a life-saving technology.
I'm Alberto Camargo, your College Town neighborhood reporter.
Learning what ECMO does and how the technology is expanding at TMH.
ECMO stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.
It's an artificial life support that helps people whose lungs or heart are not working properly.
TMH President and CEO Mark O'Bryant calls it, "a service that is life-saving, it's a miracle service, but that's a service that requires a lot of support."
The TMH Foundation says the Gala raises about $1 million dollars each year.
Dr. Carlos Campo of the ICU says the money raised will help fund more ECMO machines — because TMH currently has just one.
Dr. Campo says that must change.
"Not just with COVID, but with the flu and other respiratory issues, we've seen the need to grow this program. The same with, we have a very strong cardiology program at TMH but some patients do require ECMO for cardiac reasons as well. Many patients do."
Dr. Campo says doubling the ECMO supply from one to two isn't enough.
The reality is they will need to consider doubling it again to meet patients needs.
In College Town, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
