State-of-the-art bronchoscopy offered at BSA Health System
On Thursday, May 11th, BSA Health System performed the first Intuitive Ion procedure. BSA is the first healthcare provider to use his Intuitive Ion intraluminal system in the Texas Panhandle. The Ion is used to perform robot-assisted bronchoscopies for a more detailed and minimally invasive view of suspicious pulmonary nodules. The system can reach and biopsy all 18 parts of the lung, so it can reach more, reach more, and get more answers.
“Early detection of lung cancer is the result of multiple diagnostic options available to physicians,” said BSA Chief Medical Officer Michael Lamantia, M.D., Ph.D., in a news release. “BSA is proud to be the first in the region to offer this state-of-the-art system that allows physicians to perform biopsies of small nodules around the lungs. Not all nodules are accessible.”
Ion is designed to address the challenging aspects of lung biopsies by giving physicians specially trained in BSA new access to small targets deep within the lung. Vision probes integrated with Ion’s ultra-fine catheters provide physicians with direct vision, allowing them to reach areas of the lung that were previously difficult to access. Its shape sensing technology provides precise position and shape information throughout the biopsy process. Ion allows physicians to perform needle aspiration in a less invasive procedure.
“BSA chose the Ion robotic bronchoscopy system because it offers even greater reach, stability and accuracy during the biopsy process,” explained Dr. Lamanteer. “We are excited to expand BSA’s lung screening program so patients can stay closer to home and get the diagnostic results they need.”
For more information on BSA’s lung screening program, visit bsahs.org/services/pulmonology.
Two local women win the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Award
Canyon – Two local winners recognized at the National Small Business Awards. Amy Henderson, Vice President and Head of Business Lending at Amarillo National Bank, was named West Texas Area Women’s Business Champion of the Year. Hudson House Canyon, owned by Alyssa Lewis, was named West Texas Area Woman-Owned Business of the Year.
SBDC at WTAMU, USA, along with host Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, won the SBDC Excellence and Innovation Center Award.
The Small Business Awards are presented annually by the Small Business Administration during National Small Business Week, and this year’s event will run April 30-May 6. Awards for the Amarillo area winners were presented on May 3 at the Fairy Group Club at Bainshafer Buffalo Stadium in West Texas. Canyon Campus of A&M University.
Winners were selected by the US Small Business Administration based on qualities such as community contribution, business success, and service innovation.
“Amy and Alyssa embody what it means to be a servant leader,” said Gina Woodward, WTAMU Americas SBDC Regional Director. “They continue to work behind the scenes to serve and improve others in their jobs and communities.”
For more information, visit wtsbdc.com/smallbusinessawards or call 806-651-5151.
Dollar General Literacy Foundation Donates Over $840,000 to Texas Nonprofits
GOODLETTSVILLE, Tennessee – May 11, 2018 The Dollar General Literacy Foundation announced it will award more than $840,000 in literacy grants to Texas nonprofits, libraries and schools. The fund is part of the Foundation’s historic $13 million-plus daily literacy giving across 47 states where Dollar General works to support adult, family and summer literacy programs.
“We are delighted to celebrate the announcement of this historic grant in the year of our 30th anniversary,” said Denin Toll, Executive Director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. “For 30 years, DGLF’s investment in community programs has embodied Dollar General’s mission to create meaningful access to literacy for adults, children and families alike and to serve others. We believe everyone has the right to opportunity and access to a quality education, and we look forward to seeing these literacy grants encourage reading and build a brighter future.”
Texas recipients are listed below, and a comprehensive list of grant recipients can be found online at www.dgliteracy.org. Grants awarded to organizations in Texas are expected to positively impact the lives of more than 51,000 individuals.
These grants are designed to help schools, public libraries, and nonprofits within a 25-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center implement new literacy initiatives or expand existing ones. purpose. Funds may be used to purchase new technology, equipment, books, materials, or software to enhance literacy programs.
For more information on the Foundation’s Literacy Grant Program, please visit http://www.dgliteracy.org online.
The Texas payee includes the Dalhart ISD of County Dalhart/Durham with an amount of $3,000. Literacy Lubbock, $8,000 in Lubbock/Lubbock County. $8,000 from Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle in Amarillo/Potter County.
Amarillo Physician and Heal the City Founder Alan Keister Awarded WT Honorary Doctorate
CANYON — The founder of the Amarillo Clinic, which provides care to thousands of uninsured patients, received one of West Texas A&M University’s top awards at its commencement ceremony on May 13.
Dr. Alan Keister, founder of Heal the City, will be awarded an honorary doctorate. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from WT College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Honorary degrees provide universities with the opportunity to recognize excellence in the fields of public service, science, humanities and arts, scholarship and education, business and philanthropy, and community service with lasting contributions to the community. increase.
“I am speechless and just humbled,” Mr. Keister said of the honor. “WT has a history of being a higher education institution and celebrating the Texas Panhandle,” said Keister. “To be honored by such an institution, and to be recognized for the work we have done with so much love, is immensely humbling.”
Amarillo native, Keister graduated from Amarillo High School and is a member of the Sandy Hall of Fame. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Baylor University, then the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Vanderbilt University before returning home to start his medical career. Keister founded Heal the City in 2014 to provide quality healthcare with dignity to the uninsured in the area. Initially, the clinic was a small residential building where he served patients one night a week. Currently, San He of Amarillo operates five days a week at his 20,000-square-foot full-service medical facility in the Jacinto neighborhood.
The clinic serves acute care patients daily, manages chronic care patients, provides acute dental care and referrals, provides health protocols, operates a full-service pharmacy, and provides All services are provided free of charge. This year, the clinic will serve 8,000 patients and process approximately 38,000 prescriptions, saving patients and healthcare providers millions of dollars annually.
WT Honorary Doctorate Awarded to Oil Field Developer Bruce Thompson
CANYON — The farmer-turned-engineer pioneer received one of West Texas A&M University’s top honors at its commencement ceremony on May 13. Bruce Thompson was awarded an honorary doctorate. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the WT Faculty of Engineering.
“‘Dr. Thompson is going to take some getting used to,'” Thompson said. “I’ll probably still be the blues. I don’t really know what to think about this. It’s an honor, a real honor.”
Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Arts from WT in 1965, before the university established an engineering program, much less an engineering department. After working as a farmer and rancher at Hartley for over 40 years, Mr. Thompson moved to Granbury to pursue work in the oil fields during his oil boom in the early 2000s. He invented Sand X, an environmentally friendly process that separates oil from sand during hydraulic fracturing. This reduces hazards for oil field workers and saves companies millions of dollars while removing hydrocarbons and chlorides from the sand.
Thompson also invented the Super Loop, which reduces virtually all harmful gas emissions at the wellsite, and the Sand L, which evenly and safely distributes filtered sand with Sand X. His Sand L his team has won the 2017 World Petroleum Awards for Best Health, Safety and Environment/Sustainable Development on Land and other inventions have been recognized by the industry.
Thompson was named a WT Distinguished Alumni in 2021.