Doyle Announces Nearly $1 Million in Telecommunications Grants

MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle announced today that nearly $1 million in grants from Wisconsin’s Universal Service Fund (USF) Telemedicine program will be awarded to several non-profit health organizations around the state.

“These organizations deliver vital services to their communities – meeting real medical needs and making real impacts,” Governor Doyle said. “I am pleased that we are able to award these grants that advance and improve health care in our state. The USF program continues to provide extraordinary value and assistance to all of the state’s telecommunications customers.”

The Telemedicine Program is part of the Universal Service Fund, which awards grants annually to non-profit medical clinics and public health agencies. The grants help clinics purchase telecommunications equipment to promote advanced medical services and enhance access to medical care in underserved areas.

The telecommunications technology the grants help fund improves communication between patients and healthcare staff and communication between medical experts throughout the state. The Telemedicine Grant Program has awarded more than $3.1 million to Wisconsin non-profit healthcare providers since the program began in 2006.

The following non-profit organizations were awarded Wisconsin USF grants:

· Adams County Health and Human Services, in Friendship, received $3,769 to purchase a router for telehealth services.

· Aspirus Wausau Hospital, in Wausau, received $46,420 to purchase four telehealth units to enable patients to have access to specialty care, to provide telehealth training and education and to enable distance education for professionals.

· Barron Memorial Medical Center, in Barron, received $39,432 to purchase two telehealth units to enable the emergency room in Barron to connect to Luther Hospital in Eau Claire.

· Bellin Home Health, in Green Bay, received $75,000 to purchase telemedicine monitors and peripherals to upgrade the services to wireless web-based monitors to provide home-based health monitoring.

· Berlin Memorial Hospital, in Berlin, received $49,137 to purchase three 12-lead capable automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and cellular phones that communicate with the AEDs to transmit cardiac information from the emergency vehicle to the hospital.

· Burnett Co. Dept. of Health and Human Services, in Siren, received $28,702 to purchase four videoconferencing units to provide expanded psychiatric services to four local county health agencies (Burnett, Trempealeau, Jackson and Pepin Counties)

· Community Memorial Hospital, in Oconto Falls, received $25,000 to purchase videoconferencing systems to enable remote pharmaceutical dispensing at primary care clinic locations in Oconto County.

· Grant Co. Health Dept., in Lancaster, received $14,452 to purchase six home health monitoring systems including peripherals to enable closer monitoring of patients at-risk for hospitalization.

· Gundersen Clinic, in La Crosse, received $40,925 to purchase telehealth monitors and peripherals to enable the clinic in Blair to offer specialty health care services via telemedicine.

· Hess Memorial Hospital, in Mauston, received $73,288 to purchase a computed radiology system that will enable 24/7 access to radiologists for reading x-rays.

· Home Health United, in Madison, received $40,000 to purchase eight home health monitoring systems for use in southern Wisconsin that will transmit five key vital signs to medical professionals to evaluate need for a home visit.

· Howard Young Health Care, in Woodruff, received $32,450 to purchase an additional module to the PACS that will enable sharing of patient medical images with medical professionals located at another facility.

· Human Service Center, in Rhinelander, received $10,000 to purchase videoconferencing equipment to provide expanded psychiatric services in Forest, Oneida and Vilas Counties.

· Marshfield Clinic, in Marshfield, received $25,000 to purchase video conferencing equipment, point-of-sale systems, and pharmacy workstations to enable expanding the telepharmacy program to additional communities.

· Memorial Hospital of Lafayette Co., in Darlington, received $65,900 to purchase a computed radiology system that will enable 24/7 access to radiologists for reading x-rays.

· Moundview Memorial Hospital & Clinics, in Friendship, received $40,000 to Purchase telehealth monitors and peripherals to enable the hospital to offer specialty health care services via telemedicine and to offer educational opportunities to hospital medical staff.

· North Central Health Care, in Wausau, received $36,512 to purchase five videoconferencing units to provide expanded psychiatric services available in Wausau and Madison to rural clinics (Merrill, Tomahawk and Antigo).

· Polk Co. Health Dept., in Balsam Lake, received $23,925 to purchase ten home health monitoring systems and peripherals and the software interface to integrate two home health systems currently in use to improve home health delivery in Polk Co.

· Rock Co. Human Service Dept., in Janesville, received $10,298 to purchase two videoconferencing units to provide expanded psychiatric services to the Beloit clinic.

· St. Mary’s Hospital of Superior, in Superior, received $19,344 to purchase special monitors and computer for a radiology reading station that will be part of the PACS and enable a radiologist to read digital images sent from Ashland and Hayward.

· Scenic Bluffs Health Center, in Cashton, received $36,251 to purchase a digital radiology system that will enable 24/7 access to radiologists for reading x-rays, send images between the Norwalk clinic and hospital and able to store and send images electronically.

· Shawano Co. Dept. of Community Programs, in Shawano, received $10,102 to purchase a videoconferencing unit to provide expanded psychiatric services to the Shawano Mental Health Clinic by having access to psychiatrists in other locations.

· Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, in Milwaukee, received $136,520 to purchase telephone systems to upgrade telephone service at two clinics to improve patient access to clinic services and to provide linkage among the three health center clinics.

· Vernon Co. Dept. of Human Services, in Viroqua, received $10,000 to purchase video conferencing equipment, video conferencing security equipment, and facsimile to connect to mental health centers with additional staffing resources to provide expanded mental health services to clients.

· Winnebago Co. Human Services, in Oshkosh, received $30,000 to purchase four video conferencing equipment systems for the main clinic, outpatient clinics and the Neenah branch office to increase access to child psychiatrists and additional services for adult clients.

For more information about Wisconsin’s USF programs and organizations can apply for grants, please visit the PSC’s website at: http://psc.wi.gov/utilityinfo/tele/usf/usf-index.htm.

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