Altru’s Gala 2018 to Support Home Visits, Improving Quality of Life

Altru Health System, Grand Forks, ND – Altru Health Foundation announced this week that Altru’s Gala 2018 will benefit Home Visits, Improving Quality of Life. Along with the main event sponsor Alerus, Altru Health Foundation will host the fourteenth annual gala on September 29, 2018, at the Alerus Center.

Going home after being in the hospital can be scary and confusing. “The amount of information that patients take home can be overwhelming”, explains Dr. Marc Nielsen, a champion for the Home Visits Program. “Healthcare needs to continue in the home for any patient, of any age, with any diagnosis.”

Through Altru’s Home Visit program, which is a free service, respiratory therapists, nurses, paramedics, and residency doctors will visit the homes of patients in need who have recently been discharged from the hospital. The team will help patients become comfortable with care in their homes after being hospitalized. This will be done through answering any questions the patient and family may have, checking that the patient is taking medications correctly, making suggestions to improve quality of life in their home, and in some situations, setting up a home monitor to keep their doctor updated on vitals such as blood pressure and other important healthcare information.

“These critical visits to vulnerable patients in their homes are not covered by insurance and Altru is not charging these patients for the service,” explains Jon Green, Executive Director at Altru Health Foundation. “Donor’s gifts to this year’s Gala will help to expand this program, improving the quality of life for these individuals and literally saving lives.”

For information on sponsoring or donating to Altru’s Gala 2018, please contact Randy Schoenborn at rschoenborn@altru.org or 701.780.5618.

About Altru Health System

Altru Health System is a community-owned, integrated system with an acute care hospital, a specialty hospital, more than a dozen clinics in Grand Forks and the region, and a large home care network. It employs nearly 200 physicians and 4,000 staff and has an annual net operating revenue of more than $549 million. As the first member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Altru’s providers have access to clinically integrated tools extending Mayo Clinic’s knowledge and expertise to patients.