TELEMEDICINE: Five Medical Organizations Awarded Grants
Five medical organizations in Northern and North-Central California were awarded $225,000 for telehealth/telemedicine demonstration projects by the California Telehealth & Telemedicine Center. The center, established last year to extend telemedicine to underserved and rural communities, believes the technology is critical because it extends the reach of specialty care and increases access to medical education. The Big Valley Medical Center in Bieber was awarded $47,474 to purchase and use an intra-oral camera system to store and transmit oral photographs and dental X-rays to dental specialists in Redding so rural patients will no longer need to travel 200 miles for specialty consultations. The Butte Valley/Tulelake Rural Health Projects in Dorris received a grant for $43,746 to transmit X-rays and other digitized images in an effort to aid seasonal and migrant farmworkers in that area. The Northern Sierra Rural Health Network in Downieville will use its $50,000 grant to install eight desktop video conferencing units for health care providers in surrounding counties. The units will allow rural patients to meet with specialists via video. The Lassen Indian Health Center in Susanville plans to enhance case management services for alcohol and drug abuse among American Indian/Native American youth and their families by creating a local area network with its $49,925 grant. The Visiting Nurse Association in Sonora will use its $49,855 grant to establish a telemedicine home health care system so nursing staff can visually assess, interact and problem-solve with patients and caregivers in mountainous regions (release, 7/9).
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