Principal Charity Classic Proceeds Fund Innovative Echocardiography Machine at MercyOne Children's Hospital

A state-of-the-art echocardiography (ECHO) machine has arrived in the Pediatric Cardiac Care Suite at MercyOne Children’s Hospital. The device is made possible by a gift from the 2018 Principal Charity Classic to MercyOne Des Moines Foundation.

This innovative, new device is utilized multiple times for each pediatric cardiac care patient and provides a highly-detailed, 3D-color imaging of the heart. The Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgical Team will utilize this machine more than 500 times annually. In February, MercyOne Des Moines announced that the Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery Program at MercyOne Children’s Hospital achieved a mortality rate of one percent, which is approximately one third of the national average.

“This machine provides us with the most innovative, dynamic imaging available to support our efforts as we maintain a mortality rate well below the national average,” said David Hockmuth, M.D., Iowa’s only board-certified congenital heart surgeon and the state’s longest-practicing pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, with 27 years of service at MercyOne Des Moines and Iowa Heart Center.

“We are grateful for this gift from Principal Charity Classic, which improves our ability to accomplish what we do best – saving and improving the lives of children,” said Thomas Becker, M.D., MercyOne Children’s Hospital cardiologist and MercyOne Des Moines Foundation board member.

The Principal Charity Classic, the annual and award-winning PGA TOUR Champions event in Des Moines, raised a record $4,356,321 in support of Iowa kids in 2018. The event has now donated more than $17.7 million since 2007. Funds raised by the Principal Charity Classic support six Tournament Charity Partners in the Des Moines area – including Mercy Foundation – as well as more than 100 organizations – including MercyOne Children’s Hospital – throughout Iowa enrolled in the tournament’s “Birdies for Charity” program.

Photo caption:

MercyOne Children’s Hospital Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery Program team with ECHO machine

(L-R): Brittany Quandt, pediatric cardiac perfusionist; Jaime Davis, RN, cardiac care nurse; David Hockmuth, M.D., pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon; and Robert Shontz, M.D., pediatric anesthesiologist.