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FY 2001 Distance Learning and Telemedicine
North-West Shoals Community College; Phil Campbell, Alabama; $273,887 Grant; Area(s) Served: Franklin County; Contact: Dr. James E. Wade; (256) 331-6211; Fax: (256) 331-5396; Congressional District: 4th The project service area is located in the economically depressed southern
Appalachian region. RUS grant funds will be used to connect four schools
with each other and with North-West Shoals Community College and the Internet
that will provide for the transmission distance education classes such
as English as a second language; adult education; continuing education;
developmental math and English; health and safety training; childcare
training; and business training. The community will also receive much-needed
training and certification for a minimum of 8 rural fire and police departments,
paramedics, nurses and others. The end-user sites will be able to provide
telemedicine and social services to all of Franklin County. In addition,
diagnostic health screening will be provided for all students via telemedicine
software programs. ALASKA Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District; Palmer, Alaska; $361,272 Grant; Area(s) Served: Glacier View Community, SuValley Community, City of Houston, City of Palmer, City of Wasilla; Contact: Dave Holmquist; Phone: (907) 745-2158; FAX: (907) 745-1442; Congressional District: At-Large - Alaska The Matanuska-Susitna Borough covers a vast geographical area (24,693
square miles, about the size of the state of West Virginia), and while
it is the fastest growing area in the state and the second fastest growing
area in the nation, it is populated by a relatively small number of people.
The Mat-Su Equal Access Learning Plan has been designed to be fully integrated
with existing educational resources in the Borough. The Mat-Su Equal Access
Learning Plan will serve seven end users at local high schools with a
total student enrollment of 3,564. These seven schools are: Colony High
School; Glacier View High School; Houston Junior/Senior High School; Palmer
Senior High School; Susitna Valley High School; Wasilla High School; and,
Valley Pathways High School. This project will allow access to educational
content, provide hands-on training to improve technology skills and provide
on-going workshops. A fully furbished mini-CTC center with 15 portable,
wireless Internet accessed computers to be used for distance learning
courses during the school day and share with the community in the evening
will also be provided along with a more efficient Internet connection
permitting interactive online educational materials to be delivered using
audio, video and text by way of the Internet. ARIZONA Central Arizona College; Coolidge, Arizona; $130,100; Area(s) Served: Pinal County; Contact: Mr. Michael Cohen; (520) 976-1907; FAX: (520) 426-4408; Congressional Districts:2th, 5th, and 6th Central Arizona College intends to use RUS grant funds for a distance
learning project to purchase the equipment necessary to convert signals
to a digital format. Digital equipment will allow the college to continue
offering classes via interactive video, audio, and computer to campuses
of Central Arizona College at the Signal Peak, Aravaipa, and Superstition
Mountain campuses. Additionally, a connection is planned for Apache Junction
High School (with connections through them to rural schools in Gold Canyon).
The goals of the project are to purchase and install digital encoding/decoding
(CODEC) equipment to replace existing analog devices, purchase and install
equipment to interface with common carrier digital transmission equipment,
continue providing distance learning services at current remote campus
locations, and expand distance learning operations to offer service to
additional rural communities. The proposed system will convert the current
antiquated analog system to digital transmission, improve reliability
and quality, and add another site. A CODEC will be installed at each site
for digital to analog/analog to digital conversion. Echo cancellation
and feedback control will be installed and microphones upgraded. Lighting
will be improved for teacher workstations. Interfaces will be installed
to ensure a clean connection to the common carrier provider. The system
will also include routers, servers, hubs, and Internet streaming equipment.
This project will benefit the approximately 13,385 students enrolled in
these schools and will also positively impact over 39,300 rural residents. CALIFORNIA
The Clovis Unified School District, in a cooperative venture with the Sanger Unified School District, has been awarded a Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant of $438,011 for their Central Valley Learning Distribution Project (CVLDP). The goal of the CVLDP is to provide educational opportunities and resources to off-campus learning centers to accommodate the learning needs of approximately 5,620 rural students. RUS funds will be specifically used to install the necessary infrastructure to create a fully interactive network of distance learning classrooms at three rural schools as well as enhance the current classroom located at the Central Valley Applied Agriculture and Technology Center (hub). Courses being developed for this project will address a variety of subjects that surround the agricultural industry including Science, Business, Law, Communications and World Trade. Classes will range from entry level to advanced placement. Visible Light, Inc., Buellton, California, $500,000 Grant; Area(s) Served:
Areas of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado; Contact: Mr. Timothy
Tyndall, (805) 686-1647; FAX: (805) 686-1149; Congressional District:
Applicant B CA 22nd Project: CA - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 18th, 22nd, 40th,
44th, & 52nd; AZ - 3rd, 5th, & 6th Dists.; NM - 1st, 2nd, &
3rd Dists.; and CO - 3rd Dist. CALIFORNIA - Continued West Hills Community College District; Coalinga, California; $500,000 Grant; Area(s) Served: Fresno, Kings, and San Benito Counties; Contact: Ms. Cathy Barabe; (559) 934-1085, ext. 3115; FAX: (559) 934-1096; Congressional Districts: Applicant B 20th and Project - 17th, 18th, 19th, & 20th West Hills Community College District (WHCCD) is a publicly funded 2-year community college serving central California residents. WHCCD consists of West Hills Community College (West Hills) located in Coalinga, and 2 satellite facilities - Kings County Center campus located in Lemoore and North District Center campus located in Firebaugh. WHCCD proposes to create a distance learning network that links WHCCD in partnership with California State University (CSU), which is located in Fresno. Distance learning will be provided in the form of video-conferencing with CODEC technologies providing WHCCD students with an opportunity to take course work in fields such as education and allied health. The RuralUtilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning Grant funds in conjunction with cash and in-kind matching funds from WHCCD, CISCO Systems and CSU will provide for the start-up equipment and its installation to transmit and receive instructional course work between the 3 campus sites of WHCCD. The anticipated benefits from the RUS Distance Learning Grant funds include increasing the availability of degree courses offered for graduation and certification to students who are underemployed, Hispanic and/or low income. Visiting Nurse Association of the Inland Counties; Riverside, California; $339,524 Grant; Area(s) served: Riverside and San Bernardino Counties; Contact: Ms. Lynn M. Campbell; (909) 413-1200; FAX (909) 413-1208; Congressional Districst: 40th , 41st, 42nd , 43rd, 44th & 48th The Visiting Nurse Association of the Inland Counties will use RUS grant
funds to implement a Telemedicine Disease Management Program to serve
high-risk congestive heart failure (CHF) patients in the rural areas throughout
Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California. Telemedicine equipment
will allow real time interactive visits via a remote video system between
the patients= homes and one of the three branch offices. Nurses will be
able to assess the patients= heart rate and rhythm, as well as lung sounds,
via a remote stethoscope. They will also be able to assess the patients=
blood pressure, oxygen levels and weight. The information will be electronically
recorded for future retrieval. This project will benefit approximately
100 CHF patients in its first year and reduce the need of post-home care,
emergency room visits, readmission to the hospital, and institutionalization
of CHF patients. High Plains Rural Health Network; Brush, Colorado; $292,900 Grant; Area(s) Served: Yuma, Phillips, Sedgwick and Morgan Counties in Colorado and Keith County in Nebraska; Contact: Ms. Kay Thiel; (970) 842-2227; FAX: (970) 842-2228; Congressional Districts: Colorado - 4th and Nebraska - 3rd The High Plains Rural Health Network intends to use RUS grant funds for a telemedicine project providing a direct link between the rural hospitals= emergency room staff and board certified emergency room specialists at the two urban facilities that currently support them. The overall goal of this project is to improve the coordination and delivery of emergency care in seven rural communities located in the High Plains of Colorado and Nebraska. This goal will be achieved by providing emergency room staff in seven rural hospitals with direct access to emergency room specialists at Level II Trauma facilities through telemedicine. The seven participating rural hospitals are: East Morgan County Hospital in Brush, Colorado; Haxtun Hospital District in Haxtun, Colorado; Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke, Colorado; Sedgwick County Hospital in Julesburg, Colorado; Wray Community Hospital in Wray, Colorado; Yuma District Hospital in Yuma, Colorado; and Ogallala Community Hospital in Ogallala, Nebraska. With the ability to consult with these specialists, the local ER staff will be able to determine whether the patient needs to be transported or whether the patient can be treated locally. When it is determined that a transport is not medically needed, the telemedicine linkage will help the ER specialists direct the local practitioners in providing the necessary care locally. Each rural site will be equipped with a Polycom videoconferencing system. The six rural Colorado sites will be configured with edge devices which connect to the T1 circuit in place to provide dial in and dial out capability to each site. Ogallala will not need ATM edge devices since the facility is connected to an ISDN line. The core ATM device will connect the rural T1 sites to the video bridge which allows up to 16 simultaneous conferences. This project will benefit over 18,150 rural residents. Montrose Memorial Hospital, Montrose, Colorado; $418,000 Grant; Area(s)
Served: Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel Counties; Contact: Ms. Paula Kogle,
(970) 240-7138; Montrose Memorial Hospital (MMH) is a regional health care facility that provides services to a population of approximately 42,000 people in a 4,000 square mile area that covers three counties. Due to the high rurality of the area and the ruggedness of the terrain that makes travel difficult, many of these people receive their medical services in one of five (5) small community clinics. During the past year, these clinics have experienced more than 36,000 patient visits. Through the use of the RUS grant funds, along with matching funds, by partnering with the medical clinics, the applicant will serve these rural residents via the rural clinics by providing teleradiology and interactive video conferencing services. MMH will also serve as host of a data repository of patient-specific clinical information. Once implemented, the project will enable MMH and the clinics to communicate more effectively with larger hospitals. FLORIDA Florida State University; Tallahassee, Florida; $246,206 Grant; Area(s) Served: Leon, Jackson, Wakulla and Franklin Counties; Contact: Nancy H. Marcus; (850) 644-5498; FAX: (850) 644-2581; Congressional District: 2nd
INDIANA Central Indiana Health System; Indianapolis, Indiana; $133,428 Grant; Area(s) served: Clay, Jennings and Warren Counties: Contact: Dr. John Rahman, (317)338-7057; FAX: (317)338-7005; Congressional Districts: 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th & 10th RUS grant funds will be used to purchase eligible equipment that will
assist The Central Indiana Health System to use telemedicine and video-conferencing
to support interactive consultation, referrals, diagnostic evaluation
and treatments, access to specialty care, and patient and physician education
in three rural counties in Indiana. The relative isolation of rural residents,
including medical practitioners and patients, interferes with the access
and delivery of quality health care. This telemedicine project will increase
rural access to specialty care resulting in reduced wait time for patients
to see a specialist as well as travel time and inconvenience for patients.
For example, low-income families seldom have financial reserves making
it difficult for them to afford a trip to a large urban hospital for special
diagnoses or treatment. This project provides an immediate and cost effective
alternative that will improve patient care in rural communities served
by the member hospitals of St. Vincent Clay, St. Vincent Jennings, and
St. Vincent Williamsport in the Central Indiana Health System. IOWA Corning Community School District; Corning, Iowa; $494,289 Grant; Area(s)
Served: Corning, Bedford, Greenfield, Lenox, Corydon, Truro, Martensdale,
Liberty Center, and Pleasantville; Contact: Mr. Gregg Fuerstenau; (641)
322-4242; FAX: (641) 322-5149; RUS funds will be used to connect twelve school districts in south central Iowa to provide classes over the existing fiber optic video system in all the schools. The school districts involved are: Corning Community School District located in Corning; Bedford Community School District, Bedford; Nodaway Valley Community School District, Greenfield; Lenox Community School District, Lenox; East Union Community School District, Afton; Mount Ayr Community School District, Mount Ayr; Central Decatur Community School District, Leon; Wayne Community School District, Corydon; Interstate Community School District, Truro; Martensdale-St. Mary's Community School District, Martensdale; Southeast Warren Community School District, Liberty Center; and, Pleasantville Community School District, Pleasantville. These school districts comprise the Pride of Iowa Conference. All of the schools in the project are rural schools faced with declining enrollment and a teacher shortage, particularly in math, science, and advanced courses. This project will allow the school districts in the Pride of Iowa Conference to provide math, science, and other advanced courses by combining resources and providing these classes over the fiber optic system via the Iowa Communications Network. This system will serve the patrons of the twelve districts that include approximately 38,959 rural residents and 7,241 students.
Lamoni Community School District was selected as the legal entity to receive the RUS grant on behalf of the Decatur County Regional Academy Consortium. The consortium consists of Lamoni Community School District (Lamoni), Central Decatur Community School District (Leon), Lineville-Clio Community School District (Lineville), and Mormon Trail Community School District (Garden Grove). All of these schools are rural and face declining enrollment and a teacher shortage, particularly in math, science, and advanced courses. These four high schools in collaboration with Graceland University will form a regional high school academy to use distance learning to provide high school students with advanced level courses and technical courses not currently available within the curriculum of the local school district. RUS funds will be used to upgrade technology for the schools and connect via the Iowa Communications Network. This project will benefit 1,557 students.
RUS funds will be used to equip the Iowa Bioprocessing Training Center
located in Eddyville, Iowa, with the Iowa Communications Network (ICN).
The goal of this project is to provide continuous educational and skill
training for area residents to have the opportunity to enroll in higher
education courses from 4-year institutions; for approximately 1,000 employees
from four manufacturers and numerous contractors working in biotechnology
processes; and, as an outreach capacity to K-12 schools throughout the
state. This project is to primarily benefit the 1,000 manufacturing employees
and contractors in the biotechnology field, but can also benefit approximately
1,600 students. KANSAS Smith County Memorial Hospital; Smith Center, Kansas; $59,500 Grant; Area(s) Served: Osborne, Phillips and Smith Counties, Kansas, and Franklin and Webster Counties, Nebraska; Contact: Mr. John Terrill; Phone: (785) 282-6845; FAX: (785) 282-6331; Congressional Districts: Applicant - 1st and Project - 1st- KS, 3rd - NE Smith County Memorial Hospital (SCMH) serves approximately 8,000 patients
in the rural areas of North Central Kansas and South Central Nebraska.
The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) grant funds in conjunction with matching
funds from SCMH will provide for the installation of the teleradiology
services and a laboratory information system at SCMH. The anticipated
benefits from the grant will enable SCMH patients to have their radiology
films interpreted immediately after a radiological study is completed,
and allow for the timely and concise manner in which laboratory results
are reported to physicians. SCMH plans to implement a teleradiology system
that utilizes communication services to link with the Mary Lanning Memorial
Hospital in Hastings, Nebraska. Currently, radiologists from the Mary
Lanning Memorial Hospital, located 75 miles from Smith Center, provide
radiology services at SCMH two times a week (Tuesday and Friday mornings).
At other times, films are transported to Hastings for interpretation.
Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital has already installed the teleradiology
equipment and software necessary to receive the images to be sent from
SCMH. Under this grant, SCMH will also implement a laboratory information
system. This system will connect all of the laboratory analyzers to one
work station so that results can be sent electronically to physician's
offices and to the SCMH nurses' station. The laboratory results will be
reported to the physician in a concise manner and will be available for
immediate action.
Johnson Mathers Health Care, Inc.; Carlisle, Kentucky: $352,787 Grant; Areas Served: Bourbon, Fayette, Harrison, and Nicholas Counties; Contact: Ms. Doris Ecton; Phone: (859) 289-7181; FAX: (859) 289-4323; Congressional District: 6th Johnson Mathers Health Care, Inc. d/b/a Nicholas County Hospital (NCH) is a very small 15-bed rural hospital located in Carlisle, Kentucky. Sources of income for Nicholas County residents are extremely limited. A Census report identified 22.1 percent of the residents at 10.0 percent of the federal poverty level and 45 percent being identified at 200% of the federal poverty level. Nicholas County has a 17 percent population of 60 years or older who have difficulty in traveling much further than the local health facility. This teleradiology project will allow specialized radiology review of radiographs including x-ray films, ultrasound and CT scans produced at NCH to be immediately reviewed immediately by two larger hospitals or the office of two radiologists participating in the health care network. All transactions will be via phone lines. As a result of immediate review of radiographs, rural patients will receive timely, appropriate, cost-effective health care at the local facility. This system will also assist to alleviate courier expenses, film costs of lost or duplicated films and, assist rural residents to overcome barriers to quality health care services by providing critical access to medical services.
Morgan County ARH Hospital is a newly certified Critical Access Hospital
that is planning to implement a teleradiology system through a collaborative
network with healthcare providers outside the immediate service area.
The purpose of the project is to improve access and increase the level
of quality of radiology and emergency care services to local residents.
Teleradiography will eliminate the need to remove films and scanning records
from the MCARH facility and will improve cost-efficiency and reduce image-quality
problems. MCARH believes that the implementation of this teleradiology
system is crucial to improving the healthcare of residents in the Appalachian
region of Kentucky for the following reasons: (1) patients will not experience
the delays that are usually involved in getting specialty consultation
or emergency care; (2) since the radiology films will not have to be sent
off-site, time delays and costs will be reduced; (3) physicians will have
timely access to medical consultants; (4) the rural communities will benefit
from a more effective delivery of health care services and, therefore,
improving the quality of care for their rural patients. LOUISIANA Union General Hospital; Farmerville, Louisiana; $69,600 Grant; Area(s) Served: Union Parish; Contact: Ms. Evalyn Ormond; (318) 368-9751; FAX: (318) 368-3915; Congressional District: 5 th Union General Hospital is a private non-profit 35-bed hospital located in Farmerville in northern Louisiana. Union General Hospital provides general medical services to a 100% rural area serving approximately 11,580 people in the hospital service area that includes a 40-mile radius around the town of Farmerville. Farmerville with a population of 1,900, is the largest town in the hospital service area. Union General Hospital has been unable to attract and finance a licensed radiologist and has only been able to offer image reading diagnostic services in a limited manner. At present, one x-ray technician serves Union General Hospital. Once the x-ray is taken, it must be transported to a tertiary care facility for a radiology reading. Through the use of RUS grant funds, along with matching funds, Union General Hospital will provide teleradiology services. Teleradiology equipment will be purchased and installed so that the x-ray technician can link with the existing teleradiology network located at the Lincoln General Hospital in Ruston, Louisiana. Lincoln General Hospital will serve as the hub site for this project and in conjunction with Union General Hospital is also providing matching funds to extend the reach of clinical services to the remote communities of northeastern Louisiana.
East Carroll Parish Hospital (ECPH) is a small, 29 bed acute care hospital
that has been in operation since 1955 in Lake Providence in East Carroll
Parish. A radiologist is on staff one morning each week. All other times,
x-ray films must be transported 65 miles to be interpreted by a radiologist.
The goal of this project is to form a radiology network to share radiologists
for on-site needs and to provide 24-hour teleradiology service by 2002.
ECPH will link with the hub located at Richardson Medical Center, a 49
bed acute care hospital, in Rayville. Rural residents requiring medical
attention will be benefit from faster x-ray interpretations, reduced unnecessary
transfers and increased staff availability. This project will benefit
approximately 2,981 residents. MAINE St. Andrews Hospital; Boothbay Harbor, Maine; $115,000 Grant; Area(s) served: Lincoln County, Maine; Contact: Ms. Margaret Pinkham (207) 633-2121; FAX: (207) 633-4209; Congressional District: 1 st St. Andrews Hospital is a small, non-profit, community-centered Critical
Access Hospital providing both impatient and outpatient medical services.
St. Andrews is an affiliate member of Maine Health that is comprised of
a group of health care organizations working in concert under a single
leadership structure. Organized to provide central and southern Maine
with an integrated health care delivery system, St. Andrews will utilize
its affiliate membership status in the Maine Health system to implement
the use of teleradiology. RUS grant funds will be used to purchase eligible
equipment and initial installation and training. The project will also
allow St. Andrews to provide inpatients, outpatients and the rural communities
with confirmed primary readings through the technology of digitalized,
uncompressed images. Digitalized images allow for a final interpretation
without an on-site radiologist in an extremely short period of time. The
project will allow both physicians and patients immediate access to specialist
level, primary reads which will afford the 6,633 year round residents
of the Boothbay Region with timely diagnostic results.
HAMPSHIRE EDUCATIONAL COLLABORATIVE, Northampton, Massachusetts; $208,288 Grant; Area(s) served: Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire Counties; Contact: Ms. Margaret Collins, (413) 586-4900 x110; FAX: (413) 586-0180; Congressional District(s): Applicant B 2 nd; Project B 1 st and 2 nd The Hampshire Educational Collaborative (HEC), together with four rural school districts, will implement a distance learning project called the Western Massachusetts Rural Utilities Network of Schools. HEC is a public nonprofit multi-service educational agency representing and servicing all school districts in Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties. The four school districts involved in the project are Erving School Union 28, Gateway Regional, Hatfield, and Hampshire Regional. The project will help the geographically isolated schools meet the challenges of providing varied educational opportunities for students and access to professional development for school personnel. For example, rural elementary students will gain access to foreign language courses, high school students will have a wider choice of advanced placement courses, and off-site teachers will be able to monitor a class and provide peer reviews of a presiding teacher=s classroom performance. Grant funds will be expended on classroom video conferencing equipment.
The Nantucket Cottage Hospital, an acute rural care facility with 19
licensed beds situated thirty miles off the coast of Cape Cod, has been
awarded an $113,400 Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning and
Telemedicine (DLT) Grant. DLT funds will be used for state-of the art
technology that will improve access to quality medical services for rural
residents of this geographically isolated island. The hospital serves
the medical needs of approximately 8,206 year round residents of which
1,109 (14.1 percent) are elderly. In the case of serious multiple trauma
or other major life threatening events, it often becomes necessary to
evacuate a patient to a mainland facility 30 miles away. Specifically,
RUS funds will primarily be used for telemedicine purposes (diagnostic
and consultation for patients) and distance learning for staff as well
as the ability for medical staff to make grand rounds at a major tertiary
hospital. MICHIGAN OWENDALE-GAGETOWN AREA SCHOOLS, Owendale, Michigan; $54,000 Grant; Area(s) served: Huron County, MI; Contact: Mr. Daniel A. McKenzie, (517) 678-4261; FAX: (517) 678-4284; Congressional District(s): 5 th Owendale-Gagetown Area Schools is a public school district with a small student population and limited financial resources. In order to expand curriculum offerings and provide additional educational and professional development opportunities for students, staff, and community members, the school district will establish a distance learning classroom linked to an existing network of eight neighboring school districts. The system employs T-1 lines to support interactive television, Internet access, and data sharing. Grant funds will be used to acquire a distance learning classroom package including audio-video equipment necessary to conduct interactive video conferencing. It is expected that the system will benefit 275 students, 30 staff members, and 536 residents in the communities of Owendale and Gagetown.
Texas County Technical Institute; Houston, Missouri; $71,863 Grant; Area(s) Served: Texas County; Contact: Charlotte Gray; Phone: (417) 967-5466; FAX: (417) 967-4252; Congressional District(s): 8th The Texas County Technical Institute (TCTI) located in Houston, Missouri, will use RUS funds for a distance learning project that will bring quality education to the residents of South Central Ozark Region. The area has a high level of unemployment and under-employment according to the Department of Labor. The project will offer a variation of courses not provided by any other sources in this area. This project will provide expanded curriculum in health care courses, while at the same time offer Continuing Educational Units (CEUs) to local doctors, nurses and other health care professionals. It is anticipated the project will become a strong tool for physician recruitment and retention.
The University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine (UHS-COM)
is a private, non-profit institution of higher education. The purpose
of this distance learning project is to establish an academic environment
via an interactive distance education network to extend educational opportunities
to pre-and postdoctoral physicians that are, or will in the future, practice
in rural and medically underserved areas. The locations initially targeted
include the hospitals and clinics of the MEDCON consortium (a medical
education consortium that teams UHS-COM with seven regional and community
health-care facilities in Missouri, Kansas and Florida), two additional
regional health centers in Missouri (Lamar and Clinton) and six communities
served by the Southeastern Missouri Area Health Education Center (AHEC).
Rural Health Partners, Inc., d.b.a Heartland Health Alliance; Lexington,
Nebraska; $196,012 Grant; Area(s) Served: Boone, Nemaha, Saline, Jefferson,
Phelps, Valley, Johnson, Garden Counties; Contact: Shelia Rowe; (308)
324-3050; Fax: (308) 324-3055; Congressional Districts: 1st and 3 rd
Crossroads Distance Learning Education Consortium (CDLEC), is a consortium of school districts located in east-central Nebraska. CDLEC proposes to create an interactive video network to provide a broadened curriculum and better preparation of post-secondary education for the students, staff and community adults of the participating school districts. The school districts involved in this project include Columbus, David City, East Butler, High Plains, Humphrey, Osceola, Rising City, Schuyler, Shelby and Stromsburg. Educational Service Units (ESUs) are Nebraska's intermediary educational agencies, responsible for providing shared services such as staff development, special education services, technology and curriculum support to schools within their region. RUS grant funds in conjunction with matching funds from CDLEC, will be used to purchase digital equipment, compatible with current industry digital standards and circuits, to interconnect the schools with one another by cable, fiber optics, and/or copper wire. The anticipated benefits of this project include providing advanced placement and college-level courses to students; and involving the community in the use of technology for personal and career development. NEBRASKABContinued Mid-American Rehabilitation Telehealth Network c/o Madonna Rehabilitation
Hospital; Lincoln, Nebraska; $306,110 grant; Area(s) served: Saline, Dodge,
and Saunders Counties; Contact: Ms. Jolene Davidson; (402) 483-7102; FAX:
(402) 483-8285; The Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital has been awarded a Rural Utilities Service Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant of $306,110 to use for a telemedicine project called the Mid-American Rehabilitation Telehealth Network (MRTN). Members of the MRTN include the: (1) Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska; (2) Wilber Care Center (Wilber, Nebraska); (3) Ashland Care Center (Ashland, Nebraska); and, (4) Fremont Area Medical Center (Fremont, Nebraska). The goal of this telehealth system is to assure that rural residents have immediate access to quality rehabilitation care. Specifically, a hub-and-spoke telehealth system that will link community care centers and long-term care centers for patient consultation and treatment; education for patients, care providers, families, and community members; support groups, and for family/patient visitation. Patients will be able to receive care from rehabilitation professionals without leaving their home area. Continuing education opportunities will also be offered including Certified Nursing Assistant and Licensed Practical Nurse Certification training, in-services, and Grand Rounds. Specialists at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital will collaborate on and share leading-edge technology with clinicians in the connecting rehabilitation departments. This project will benefit approximately 90,000 rural residents.
The University of New Mexico (UNM) B Gallup ALINK@ project will use RUS
grant funds to bring distance learning technology to McKinley County,
New Mexico. Gallup, a town of 19,157 residents, is rural and isolated,
as it is 135 miles from the nearest metropolitan community, Albuquerque.
Seventy percent of the residents of this area are Native Americans. UNM-Gallup
will create a broadcast center hub and enable two newly constructed "Smart"
classrooms with this same technology. The other end-user sites include
three UNM-Gallup Adult Basic Education satellite sites (UNM-Gallup North
Campus, Gallup; UNM-Gallup South Campus, Zuni; and Tohatchi ABE, Tohatchi),
one healthcare facility (Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital, Gallup),
one at the Mega Central E-commerce Center (Gallup), and four Gallup-McKinley
public school district sites (Gallup High School, Navajo Pine High School,
Crownpoint High School, and Thoreau High School). This project will provide
for both synchronous (class sessions) and asynchronous (Internet) learning
modalities. The goal of the project is to provide easily accessible health,
education, and economic opportunities via telecommunication technologies.
In addition, students will be able to access the Libros system, a web-based
library resources catalog utilized by colleges and universities throughout
New Mexico. This project will benefit approximately 70,000 residents of
McKinley County. NEW YORK Westchester County Health Care Corporation; Valhalla, New York; $455,303 Grant; Areas Served: Ulster County; Contact: Ms. Linda F. Seligson; Phone: (914) 493-7297; FAX: (914) 493-1280; Congressional Districts: 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th , and 26th The Westchester County Health Care Corporation proposes to use RUS funds
to implement the "Healthy Outlook Network Telemedicine Program."
This project will provide telemedicine services to electronically link
medical professionals so they may exchange health care information for
the purpose of providing improved healthcare services primarily to residents
of rural areas in New York. Specialty care providers at the Westchester
Medical Center located in Valhalla will be connected to the Ellenville
Regional Hospital and the Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute Family Practice
Center in Ellenville. This area which covers 1,127 square miles, is mostly
mountainous (Catskill and Shawangunk Mountains), isolated and sparsely
populated. Ellenville is a federally designated Rural Economic Area Partnership
(REAP) Zone. There is a shortage of health care providers and limited
access to routine medical care due to lack of public transportation and
geographic isolation. This project will allow physicians to use state-of-the-art
diagnostic services, and minimize the need for their patients to be sent
to large tertiary or academic centers just for these diagnostic support
services. NORTH DAKOTA Langdon School District Foundation; Langdon, North Dakota; $110,000 Grant;
The Langdon School District Foundation will serve as the lead organization for the Rural Regional Distance Learning Consortium. The consortium members are the Langdon School District Foundation, Cavalier County Job Development Authority, Langdon North Dakota State University (NDSU) Research Extension Center and the Cavalier County Memorial Hospital. RUS funding will allow advanced and specialized classes to be available to students, continuing education courses for students and health care providers, video conferencing for meetings, and skills training for businesses. This project will provide the community with three distance learning sites located at the Langdon NDSU Research Extension Center (also the hub), the Langdon Area Public School, and the Cavalier County Memorial Hospital. The Langdon NDSU Research Extension Center will provide the connection to region, state, and global opportunities to bring together secondary education, higher education, agricultural research, local business and government to meet a changing need for this rural population of 143,464 residents.
RUS funds will be used the West River Health Services to connect the
Buffalo Clinic at Buffalo, South Dakota, to West River Regional Medical
Center's information system. The Buffalo Clinic provides health care for
1,700 people in an exceptionally rural area. The nearest town is 40 miles
away and the nearest full service hospital requires an 80-mile drive.
In order to provide quality health care in a timely manner at the clinic,
computerization and networking are needed. The project is two-part, with
the first involving the purchasing of computer equipment to computerize
the Buffalo Clinic. The second part is to provide an information system
for the West River Nurse Corps. This rural home health service is a division
of West River Regional Medical Center that provides health care to rural
residents. A home health information and out-reach system is necessary
to connect with the medical center to place information into the electronic
medical records, obtain patient demographic information and provide billing
for the home health visits. In order to achieve consistency in care delivery
and accurate, timely clinical documentation, computer technology must
be used by the nurses as they provide medical services on site in patients
homes. OKLAHOMA Sequoyah County-City of Sallisaw dba Sequoyah Memorial Hospital, Sallisaw, Oklahoma; Grant Amount: $63,431; Counties Served: Sequoyah; Contact Person: Ms. Ruth Ann Roark; Phone Number: (918) 774-1100, Fax Number: (918) 774-1142; Congressional District: 2nd The Sequoyah Memorial Hospital (Sequoyah), a licensed rural medical facility located in eastern Oklahoma has been awarded a $63,431 Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant. The grant funds will be used to purchase a laser film digitizer and integrated optical scanner, which will allow the hospital to transmit radiology images and medical records to the Sparks Regional Medical Center for immediate consultation. Additionally, RUS DLT grant funds will provide for an Internet Web site that will make hospital information readily available to area residents and provide for an optical scanner that will allow medical records to be scanned and stored in a more cost effective manner. The anticipated benefits from the RUS DLT grant funds will enable Sequoyah patients and residents to have better patient care as consultations are available 24 hours a day. The entire county population of approximately 40,000 residents could benefit from lower costs and improved care as a result of the project. OREGON St. Charles Medical Center Foundation; Bend, Oregon: $321,447 Grant; Area(s) Served: Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Lake, Wasco, Jefferson, Crook Counties; Contact: Mr. Eric Alexander; (541) 388-7700, Fax: (541) 385-6345; Congressional District: 2nd. The St. Charles Medical Center Foundation, a member of the Oregon Hospital Network (CONet), was awarded a Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant to upgrade an existing regional telemedicine network to enable medical procedures to be performed in Oregon's largest healthcare service area. This project is part of a continuing collaborative venture of The St. Charles Medical Center Foundation and seven other member hospitals of CONet that received DLT grant funds in 1997 which made it possible to connect seven hospitals with isolated rural health care professionals for videoconferencing in a vast 32,000 square miles of mostly medically underserved and economically distressed rural communities. RUS funds, specifically, will be used to expand access to quality health care service by enabling medical procedures to be become available to a population of over 192,00 rural residents in this region where costs, both human and financial, have impeded access to quality care and health care professionals.
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania; $364,087
Grant; Counties and Municipalities Served: Butler County-Butler, 4th &
21st Dists.; Cameron County-Emporium, (Clinton County-Mill Hall, Elk County-Ridgway,
Forest County-Tionesta, Jefferson County-Brookville, Potter County-Coudersport;
Tioga County-Wellsboro, Venango County-Franklin, Warren County-Youngsville,
McKean County-Smethport, 5th Dist.; Clearfield County-Clearfield, 5th
& 9th Dist.; Armstrong County-Kittanning, Clarion County-Shippensville,5th
& 12th Dists.; Crawford County, 5th & 21st Dist.; Bedford County-Bedford,
Franklin County-Chambersburg, Huntingdon County-Huntingdon, Juniata County-Mifflintown,
Mifflin County-Lewistown, 9th Dist.; Bradford County-Towanda, Fulton County-McConnelsburg,
Sullivan County-Dushore, Wayne County, Susquehanna County-Montrose, 10th
Dist.; Montour County-Danville, 11th Dist,; Indiana County-Indiana, Somerset
County-Somerset, 12th Dist.; Fayette County-Uniontown, 12th & 20th
Dists,; Adams County-Gettysburg, 19th Dist.; Greene County-Waynesburg,
20th Dist.; (31 counties) Congressional Districts: Applicant 5th The Cooperative Extension and Outreach Office at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has been awarded a $364,087 Rural Utilities Service Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant to develop a multi-dimensional model for disseminating health messages and motivating rural residents to improve health related behavior. The Penn State Cooperative Extension will promote and support community-based health activities in conjunction with coordinated health messages developed through Penn State Public Broadcasting (television, radio, interactive web), World Campus, Continuing Education, and various print media. This motivational/educational outreach project promises maximum public access and engagement throughout Pennsylvania. For example, Penn State's 300 agents reach over two million people each year through programs in agriculture, family living, and 4-H/youth and community development. Program content will be delivered in multiple media formats, including documentary videos, paper publications and tool kits, and a Web site that makes it easier to access the material to transport form venue to venue. SOUTH DAKOTA Horizon Health Care, Inc.; Howard, South Dakota; $208,739 Grant; Area(s) served: Miner, Hamlin, Kingsbury, Aurora, Jerauld, and Sanborn Counties; Contact: John Mengenhausen; Phone: (605) 772-4574; FAX: (605) 772-4128; Congressional District: At-Large Horizon Health Care, Inc. is a non-profit community health center organization
located in east central South Dakota. Horizon Health Care, Inc. serves
a six-county rural and frontier area. RUS funding will assist in establishing
a needs-driven Horizon Tele Emergency Network (HTN) within Horizon Health
Care's delivery sites. All six counties in the service area are designated
as Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserved Areas.
Although primary healthcare is provided within this service area, providers
often face difficulties in making initial triage decisions regarding whether
a patient should be immediately transported to a healthcare facility with
more medical resources or whether the patient can be treated at the community
health center. The ability to connect with the Sioux Valley Hospitals
and Health System in Sioux Falls, through teleconference applications
will provide assistance with resuscitation, trauma care, and urgent consultations
by an ER specialist. This telemedicine project will provide the community
the opportunity to meet the need for public transportation by bringing
the health specialist to the clinic, as well as aid in emergent triage
decisions. In addition, this project will also provide on-going patient
education and continuing education to physicians and other health care
professionals. TENNESSEE THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, COLLEGE OF PHARMACY; Memphis, Tennessee; $493,675 Grant; Area(s) served: Carroll, Knox, Rutherford, Coffee, Dickson, Anderson, Tipton, Sullivan, and Shelby counties; Contact: Dr. Dick R. Gourley, Phone: (901) 448-6036; FAX: (901) 448-7053; Congressional District(s): 1st , 2st , 3 rd, 4th, 6th, 7th , 8th , and 9th RUS grant funds will be used to link the Drug Information Center of The
University of Tennessee to eight community residency sites across the
State of Tennessee as well as interfacing with the Agricultural Extension
Service. The Drug Information Center will provide online drug information
service for the pharmacists in those communities as well as the resources
of the Drug Information Center to provide drug information to patients,
physicians, and other health professionals. The focus of this project
is on establishing education centers in community pharmacies with pharmacy
residencies that will utilize the drug information services of the College
of Pharmacy to: (1) provide drug information services to healthcare providers
in rural areas of Tennessee where community pharmacy training programs
exist; (2) increase the awareness of physicians, pharmacists, nurses,
dentists, and other healthcare providers of the drug information services;
(3) to extend this service to agricultural extension health specialists;
(4) enhance the education of pharmacy students and residents; (5) develop
new programs which address the issue of medication awareness of the public;
and, (6) develop and evaluate the outcomes of this program. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (The Delta Telehealth Project); Memphis, Tennessee; $498,747 Grant; Area(s) Served: Counties of Panola and DeSota in Mississippi, St. Francis of Arkansas, and Sumner, Maury, Madison, Obion, Bedford, Stewart and Cumberland of Tennessee; Contact: Ms. Karen C. Fox; Phone: (901) 448-5848; FAX: (901) 448-8199; Congressional Districts: Tennessee-- 4th, 6th, 7th , 8th & 9th ; Mississippi-- 1st & 2nd, Arkansas-- 1st. The "Delta Telehealth Project" is an alliance of primary, secondary, and tertiary health care providers seeking to bridge the gap between the resource-rich metropolitan center of Shelby county and surrounding medically underserved counties. Through a network of teleconferencing and telemedicine connections, health care providers will have access to a wide range of specialty services available form the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and LeBonheur Children's Medical Center. These medical specialties will include pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology, dermatology, pulmonology, infectious disease, and cardiology. Medical protocols have been designed specifically for this project to address specific health issues and shortages, including diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis and behavioral health counseling. The end user sites are: the Ambulatory and Indigent Care Health Center (Batesville, Mississippi); the Community Health Services Center (Tunica, Mississippi); the East Arkansas TENNESSEE - Continued Children's Clinic (Forrest City, Arkansas); the Obion County Health Department (Union City, Tennessee); the West Tennessee Regional Office (Jackson, Tennessee); the Stewart County Health Department (Dover, Tennessee); the Sumner County Health Department (Gallatin, Tennessee); the South Central Regional Office (Columbia, Tennessee); the Bedford County Health Department (Shelbyville, Tennessee); and the Cumberland County Health Department (Crossville, Tennessee). The total population to be served by this project is 510,405.
TEXAS Texas A&M University-Kingsville; Kingsville, Texas; $195,500 Grant; Area(s) Served: Duval and Brooks Counties; Contact: Ms. Sandra Rexroat; (361) 593-3344; FAX: (361) 593-3409; Congressional Districts: 15th, 27th, & 28th Texas A&M University intends to use RUS grant funds for a distance learning project that will provide rural areas of South Texas with advanced information technology in order to provide educational opportunities and job training. The hub site for the project is the Distance Learning Center at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The two end-user sites, San Diego ISD High School in Duval County and Brooks ISD Middle School in Brooks County, will consist of a classroom/laboratory local area network (LAN) based on microcomputers that can communicate globally with voice, video, text, graphics, and data. Each end-user will also have two way audio and video interactive videoconference equipment. These facilities will be used to address needs identified in the individual communities, as follows: (1) K-12 education- standard, remedial, and advanced placement; (2) higher education- undergraduate, graduate, and teacher certification; (3) adult and continuing education- GED, workforce development, and life-long learning; and (4) job searching. Specifically, college level courses will be made available to more people with greater regularity and with greatly reduced travel expense. This project will benefit the 3,350 students enrolled in these two school districts and will also positively impact over 10,770 people living in these two rural counties. Texas Family Health Network, Inc.; Plainview, Texas; $494,927 Grant; Area(s) Served: Briscoe, Lamb, Parmer, Swisher, and Randall Counties; Contact: Dr. Sidney Ontai; (806) 293-2270, FAX: (806) 296-7990; Congressional Districts: 13th & 19th The Texas Family Health Network, under the direction of Dr. Sidney Ontai, plans to use RUS grant funds, along with matching funds, to purchase telemedicine equipment with video capable computers along with medical diagnostic equipment. The telemedicine units will be placed in the offices of specialists and primary care physicians at the hub site located in Plainview, Texas. This will increase primary care and specialty coverage and will include general surgery, ophthalmology, and cardiology as well as family practice with obstetrics. A Avirtual pharmacy@ will be added to six (6) end-user site clinics covering nearly 11,000 square miles with over 7,000 rural residents. Scott and White Memorial Hospital and Scott Sherwood and Brindley Foundation;
Temple, Texas; $335,402 Grant; Area(s) served: Williamson, Bosque, Burnet,
Lano, Bell, and Coryell Counties; Contact: Dr. Greg Hobbs; (254) 724-9827;
FAX: (254) 724-1044; The goal of the Central Texas Diabetes Care Telemedicine Project is to
provide a specialized team approach to rural diabetics in central Texas
through a telemedicine network. This network will link a team of diabetes
specialists at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas with primary care clinics in the five rural communities of Taylor, Horseshoe Bay, Georgetown, Gatesville, and Clifton, Texas. By providing access to specialty care to these rural diabetic patients, this project will help reduce the complications caused by diabetes. An estimated 4,270 diabetic patients will benefit from this project.
Hill College is a publicly funded 2-year community college located in Hillsboro, Texas. Hill College proposes to create a distance learning network to deliver academic, vocational and continuing education coursework to the smaller school districts in the surrounding service area. The school districts targeted for this project include: Blum, Bynum, Cranfills Gap, Glen Rose, Godley, Iredell, Keene, Kopperl, Lipan, Meridian, Morgan, Penelope, Valley Mills, Venus and Walnut Springs. All of these schools possess an Interactive Television (ITV) classroom connected into their regional K-12 Educational Service Center (ESC). TheRuralUtilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning Grant funds in conjunction with matching funds from Hill College, will provide for the installation of 3 distance learning classrooms that will connect to the existing regional ESC network. Two classrooms will be located on the Johnson County campus and serve the Johnson, Hood and Somervell counties. One classroom will be located on the Hillsboro campus and serve Hill and Bosque counties. The anticipated benefits include providing college credit courses to the targeted high schools using the Hill College faculty; and delivering workforce training and vocational courses to students in areas of childcare, health technician and information processing fields. Texana Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center; Rosenberg, Texas; Grant Amount $66,800; Counties Served: Austin, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Waller and Wharton Counties; Contact Person: James A. Lokey, Ed.D; Phone Number: (979) 865-3621, ext. 131, Fax Number: (979) 865-5236; Congressional Districts: 8th, 14th, and 22nd. Texana Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center (MHMR), a non-profit service delivery system that provides treatment and services to approximately 4,698 individuals with mental illness, mental retardation, autism, or pervasive developmental disorder in six counties, was awarded a $66,800 Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant. The primary objective of the project is to supplement existing medical services such as counseling with immediate access to a psychiatric practitioner. The project will also provide distance learning opportunities that will be used for teaching and file sharing purposes among MHMR staff. RUS grant funds will be used to purchase basic hardware and software to equip the hub location, Rosenberg, and the four end user sites, Bay City, Columbus, Hempstead and
WISCONSIN Cooperative Educational Service Agency #7; Green Bay, Wisconsin; $500,000 Grant; Area(s) Served: Counties of Dane, Richland, Iowa, Columbia, Wood, Dodge, Washington, Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Kewaunee, Price, Oneida, Buffalo, Chippewa, St. Croix and Iron; Contact Mr. James S. Coles, Telephone (920) 492-5960, FAX (920) 492-2728; Congressional Districts: 2nd, 3rd, 6th , 7th, 8th, & 9th This project will provide rural middle and high school students, particularly grades 5-10, greater access to enrichment programming, virtual field trips, and other exciting interactive learning opportunities. The 20 end user sites will connect to existing regional distance networks that interconnect with one another to form the statewide BadgerNet distance learning network. Enhanced learning opportunities in math and science are the goals of this project as well as afford greater opportunities to obtain and share the resources designed to improve lifestyles for the community at-large.
The Spring Valley Health Care Center=s Medical Information Automation and Access (MIAA) Project will provide for the development of an automated information system for patient care information and provide health care professionals the ability to communicate comprehensive information more efficiently. The project will: (1) maximize time efficiencies for professional medical staff which will provide better availability and access; (2) provide a comprehensive automated information system with immediate availability to medical information; and, (3) provide access to patient information and data by primary care medical staff at remote sites by means of a secured website. It is the Spring Valley Health Care Center=s goal to provide advanced technologies that will allow nurses to improve time efficiencies while offering the highest quality of care and quality of life to patients. The MIAA project will assist physicians in making immediate diagnoses for 68 residents of the Spring Valley Health Care Center.
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