"Tough Enough to Wear Pink" Funds Virtual Skylights in Brookings Health’s Ultrasound Rooms

  • February 21, 2022

Newly added virtual skylights are helping create a calming atmosphere inside Brookings Health System’s ultrasound procedure rooms. Brookings Health System Foundation funded the virtual skylights with donations given to through Swiftel Center’s annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign to support local cancer patients. Physicians often use ultrasound procedures to help diagnose patient conditions as cancerous or non-cancerous.
Newly added virtual skylights are helping create a calming atmosphere inside Brookings Health System’s ultrasound procedure rooms. Brookings Health System Foundation funded the virtual skylights with donations given to through Swiftel Center’s annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign to support local cancer patients. Physicians often use ultrasound procedures to help diagnose patient conditions as cancerous or non-cancerous.

Virtual skylights were newly added to Brookings Health System’s three ultrasound procedure rooms thanks to Tough Enough to Wear Pink funds.

The virtual skylights display backlit nature scenes directly above ultrasound procedure tables, creating a calming atmosphere.

“The virtual skylights have been verified by research to have a multisensory effect on human physiology, including reducing mental stress,” said Diagnostic Imaging Director Tim Watson. “The skylights can help ease patient anxiety during ultrasound procedures, especially when patients are facing a potentially life-changing diagnosis like cancer.”

Radiologists will use ultrasound to perform a biopsy, removing a small amount of tissue for examination to help diagnose a condition as cancerous or non-cancerous. Physicians will also use ultrasounds to find a tumor’s exact location in the body.

“Thanks to monies raised by Swiftel Center’s annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign, Brookings Health System Foundation was able to provide the new virtual skylights,” said Foundation Director Sara Schneider. “The skylights will give local ultrasound patients a calming visual anchor point during procedures, helping patients feel more relaxed.”

The Swiftel Center’s Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign takes place each October. Proceeds from t-shirt sales are donated directly to Brookings Health System Foundation and are used to promote local cancer screening benefits, such as regular mammograms. Funds also help provide information about the importance of breast self-examinations and promote local resources that are available for patients at Avera Medical Group Brookings and Brookings Health System. For more information on Tough Enough to Wear Pink, visit swiftelcenter.com/toughenough. More information on ways to support Brookings Health System Foundation can be found online at brookingshealth.org/Foundation.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.