Staff members of Cheyenne County Hospital and Clinic in St. Francis are no longer having to respond to false alarms after the Mesa Lab cold chain storage monitoring system was installed in March.

Clinic manager Erica Zimbelman described the new system as a “total game-changer.” The old system had given false alerts of temperature changes in medication and vaccine storage areas in the middle of the night several nights a week, and each had to be checked out.

Mila Bandel, county health administrator, said the new system allows staff to monitor temperature, humidity and other conditions in food and medication storage areas, the physical therapy swimming pool and the blood bank.

The monitoring system, plus a new generator, allow the facility to provide medical services even during a weather or community crisis. Because of the new system, there were no concerns about maintaining reliable storage during rolling brown outs over several days as city crews repaired infrastructure following a recent storm.