Broadband links University hospital to rural areas
By Rebecca Brooks | April 18, 2002Doctors in earlier times traveled far and wide to treat patients. With cutting-edge telemedicine technology, however, doctors now can visit the same patients without ever leaving the clinic. Telemedicine takes advantage of modern video conferencing equipment and other technologies to conduct patient consultations and public health classes, giving even rural areas easy access to specialized medical care. This month, Congress approved a grant allocating $25,000 to a project linking Patrick County Community Hospital with the University, making the rural Virginia hospital the 14th of its kind. The grant is the first of six to be awarded to different rural communities nationwide, housing more telemedicine sites in southwest Virginia than anywhere else in the country. "We have a world class medical center right here, but there are many places in Virginia where one is hard to get to," Telemedicine Deputy Director Richard Settimo said. "If a patient out in southwest Virginia was told they needed to come all the way to Charlottesville to see a specialist, they just wouldn't come," Telemedicine Medical Director Karen Rheuban said.
