NEWTON, Kan., (September 15, 2026) – NMC Health has won a $662,642 Emerging Technology Grant to bring faster testing tools to rural Kansas. The funding will help doctors find infections and start the right treatment much sooner.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced the award in Newton. It is part of the Rural Health Transformation Program, which helps rural communities improve healthcare and upgrade medical services.
Faster Answers for Patients
NMC Health will use the money to buy a advanced lab system. This system includes a tool that reads the unique protein “fingerprint” of bacteria and yeast. Instead of waiting days for test results from distant labs, patients will get vital answers in just a few hours.
“Where you live should not decide how fast your healthcare team gets the information they need,” said Val Gleason, President and CEO of NMC Health. “We are grateful for this investment in our patients and our community.”
Key Benefits of the New Technology:
•Faster test results: Patients get answers in hours instead of days.
•Targeted treatment: Doctors can give the exact right antibiotic immediately.
•Better care for severe cases: Quick identification is critical for life-threatening conditions like sepsis.
•Fewer outside delays: Running tests in-house means less waiting on labs in other cities.
•Shorter hospital stays: Faster diagnosis helps lower the risk of complications and speeds up recovery.
Better Care and Smarter Medicine
The new lab equipment will speed up blood tests and check which treatments work best against certain germs. This speed is vital for deadly conditions like sepsis, where each hour counts.
“When we can learn the cause of an infection quickly, doctors can use a targeted drug right away,” said Heather Porter, Chief Clinical Officer at NMC Health. “This helps patients heal faster and helps us use antibiotics responsibly for everyone.”
Using antibiotics more wisely is another key part of the project. Broad-spectrum antibiotics may be used at first when doctors do not yet know the exact cause of an infection. Faster testing can help doctors move to a more targeted drug sooner. This helps patients and helps fight antibiotic resistance
Lab Director Tonya Gaston and Lab Manager Bethany Fry will lead the project. It will include new equipment, staff training, and daily lab updates. “We know that behind each specimen is a patient waiting for answers,” said Gaston. “The funding will give our team tools that simply have not been widely available in rural healthcare.”
Mainly, we will have an integrated rapid diagnostic microbiology platform anchored by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. This, along with automated blood culture detection, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and other supporting lab technologies gives us state-of-the-art diagnostics,” continued Gaston.
Helping Rural Families
NMC Health provides lab services for patients, clinics, and nursing homes across south-central Kansas. Doing these advanced tests in-house means fewer delays and better care close to home. Faster answers can also lead to fewer complications and shorter hospital stays.
“As an independent, not-for-profit hospital, this grant lets us bring big-city technology to our community,” Gleason added. “It helps rural hospitals stay strong and ready to care for patients.”
The hospital will start setting up the new equipment after the grant process is complete.