Treatment and care of children in the Department of Neonatal Intensive Care Medicine and ENT at the Children's Faculty Hospital in Košice is once again a bit faster and of better quality. Thanks to a donation of 265,000 euros by the U.S. Steel Košice Foundation, a whole range of new examination instruments and devices were added to this health facility with regional scope, which on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, were ceremonially handed over to the nursing staff by Jim Bruno, the president of the Košice steel plant, in the presence of DFN director Andrej Koman.

"Our cooperation with the U.S. Steel Foundation in Košice has been very intensive and effective for several years. We greatly appreciate your support in the treatment of our small patients from all over the region, among whom are also the children of factory employees, and we appreciate their empathetic approach. We always approach sponsorships from the U.S. Steel Košice Foundation in a very responsible and purposeful way," stated Andrej Koman, director of the DFN in Košice, at a joint meeting with the president of the Košice steel plant before the ribbon-cutting ceremony at both modernized departments. Other aid, he recalled, was aimed at improving the quality of treatment for children with hearing impairment and the most at-risk children with low birth weight, who need very expensive highly specialized care. The medical staff of the hospital were also pleased with the new uniform service clothes.
The support of the Children's Faculty Hospital in Košice, where in recent years the proceeds of more than one company employee collection went, would not be possible from the U.S. Steel Foundation without financial resources, in the creation of which metallurgists can participate with their 2 or 3 percent of the income tax paid. "I have been in Slovakia, in Košice, for five years and I am pleased to see how our employees are involved in community charitable activities," said Jim Bruno in this context. "What my parents taught me also applies in Slovakia - it is definitely better to give than to receive. Giving to those who need help.'

The Children's Faculty Hospital in Košice is very happy with the new device. "The ENT department, where we examine approximately 12,000 patients a year, has acquired, for example, precise instruments for measuring hearing disorders and an examination unit, which is comprehensively equipped with the necessary ENT instruments and, through an integrated UV lamp, ensures the disinfection of individual instruments. It also contains components for ear washing and a flexible HD fiberscope," said Andrej Koman.

Another device that enriched the ENT clinic is the tympanometer. It plays an important role in the examination of children with hearing impairment, before surgery, in case of ear pain, dizziness, increased sensitivity to loud sounds and also in case of ringing in the ears. More than three thousand children use it annually.

In neonatology, a device for controlled whole-body hypothermia was added, which serves to protect the brain cells of premature or at-risk children. The goal of this treatment method is to protect the brain of the newborn, which was exposed to a lack of oxygen during birth. Thanks to it, the baby cools down by approximately 3 degrees to 33.5 degrees Celsius and is maintained at this temperature for the next 72 hours. This treatment is also helped by another purchased gift - a monitor for monitoring brain activity - an electroencephalogram.

Four protective X-ray shields help to protect the babies in the incubators so that they are protected from radiation if another small patient is being x-rayed in the adjacent incubator.