Olympic Medical Center commissioners last week accepted a $170,000 donation from the Olympic Medical Center Foundation that will help OMC meet a rising demand for a critical cardiac diagnostic test.

The donation, presented to hospital board commissioners on July 17, will go to purchase another cardiac ultrasound system, used to take echocardiograms, as well as another echocardiogram table, said Leonard M. Anderson, director of the OMC Heart Center, in a press release.

“We’re dealing with a higher demand for cardiac ultrasounds in the area,” Anderson said.

“Given the budget at the hospital,” the purchase of an additional machine “was not going to happen immediately,” Anderson said.

“The foundation stepping in to fund this need improves care and helps us meet the demand from the community for this essential test.”

An echocardiogram is a key diagnostic test for cardiac patients, he said. Cutting the wait time for this test means patients can get care more quickly.

This machine is the sixth cardiac ultrasound system at OMC. The foundation’s donation will cover both the cost of the machine and the special table needed to use it, Anderson said.

“It will reduce waiting times for echocardiograms and also will cut the number of people who have to travel out of area for echocardiograms,” Anderson explained.

The OMC Heart Center conducts between 500-550 echocardiograms a month now, Anderson said, and the demand has been increasing, both because of an aging population and an increased number of providers.

Cardiac providers now include four physicians — the newest having arrived in April — two physician assistants and an internist who is in charge of the cardiac clinic, Anderson said.

“The community needs them,” Anderson said. “We’ve been running short for a number of years.”