Dear Friends,

 

When we created this new website a year ago, I promised myself that I would keep it up to date. Yet I looked at our website this morning and saw that it has been six months since my last blog.

 

The good news about that is that we have been incredibly busy. We are moving in the right direction to soon be able to offer ultrasounds. These ultrasounds are used to confirm pregnancy as well as viability and gestational age.

 

Earlier this year Heartbeat of Toledo joined NIFLA, the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates. For more than 10 years NIFLA has been helping centers convert to medical clinics. NIFLA’s President, Thomas Glessner, reports that centers converting to medical clinics will see an increase in the total number of clients seen and in the number of abortion-minded clients. They will also see a dramatic increase in the percentage of clients choosing life.

 

Heartbeat of Toledo is currently undergoing the training necessary to convert to a medical clinic. Our board and volunteers met with a NIFLA representative earlier this month to begin the training process.

 

In September our new nurse manager, a volunteer nurse and I will be heading to Virginia to be trained to do ultrasounds and also run a medical clinic.

 

Following that training an organization called Sonography Now will come out to the Heartbeat office for two weeks to supervise the newly trained nurses doing scans.

 

Besides our two nurses, we also have two doctors who have volunteered their services. One will serve as our medical director while the other will be reading the ultrasound scans.

 

The Knights of Columbus in the Toledo Diocese are spearheading a grant request and fundraising effort to acquire the funds to purchase an ultrasound machine for us.

 

It will be a busy fall here at Heartbeat. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to offer ultrasounds by the end of the year.

 

Pat Todak