The Rainelle Medical Center will soon be able to provide additional patients with telehealth and remote services, and training on how to use those services, thanks to a $614,048 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development fund.
Christopher Clay, chief financial officer at the Rainelle Medical Center, said that the funds will be used to overhaul the information technology (IT) infrastructure at the site located in Rainelle and at over 30 satellite locations.
Some of the work that the money will fund includes updating servers, bringing fiber-optic broadband to the offices and enhancing network security, Clay said.
Currently, the Rainelle Medical Center has telehealth services in place, but they are mostly used for those receiving behavioral health and counseling.
“Our services are sometimes a bit glitchy. Of course, with an older population who might not be tech-savvy, that is a challenge,” Clay noted. “Hopefully, we can remedy some of those issues as we strengthen our internal infrastructure. We want to make it more seamless and make it easier for patients to access those services.”
“There are still some people who are fearful to get out because they are at-risk and feel more comfortable getting remote services,” Clay continued. “This grant will help us support those services in the future.”
Additionally, the funds will be used to help train patients and staff on how to use telehealth services, Clay said.
“At the start of the pandemic we didn’t have any infrastructure in place, so we had to really get things going pretty much overnight,” Clay explained. “We have kind of been in a learning curve since then.”
The ultimate goal is to be able to provide everyone at the Rainelle Medical Center and patients with the tools needed for success in a remote environment.
“It’s a huge relief and a very good thing for our community and for the health center to be flexible and adapt to things like pandemics and modern healthcare challenges,” Clay said. “It is really going to benefit rural southern West Virginia and our health center.”
West Virginia Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, assisted in securing these funds for Rainelle Medical Center.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the daily lives of every West Virginian and American, especially our healthcare professionals and students,” Manchin stated in a press release. “Schools and healthcare providers have had to adapt to safely serve their students and patients, which has been difficult due to the lack of reliable, affordable broadband access across the state. I’m pleased the USDA is investing in our West Virginia communities to help schools, colleges and care providers adapt to distance learning and telemedicine.”
Capito added “West Virginians living in small, hard-to-reach communities across the state often find it difficult to receive quality care due to lack of options for access. USDA’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants are so important in helping address this issue by supporting efforts to help connect our communities with one another, which ultimately help expand opportunities for residents.”
“Our IT team is working really hard to get the ball rolling and implement this,” Clay said. “We are very excited and definitely appreciate both Senators Manchin and Capito for their support for healthcare programs in this state.”
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