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September 28, 2009
ROCKEFELLER ANNOUNCES NEW BROADBAND NETWORK TO IMPROVE RURAL HEALTH CARE IN HUNTINGTON REGION
~Project will link Marshall University, the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, St. Mary's Medical Center and Cabell-Huntington Hospital~
Charleston, W.Va. – Senator Jay Rockefeller today joined Marshall University President Stephen J. Kopp and Larry Malone, Chairman of the West Virginia Telehealth Alliance (WVTA), to announce the “Metro Fiber Build” project, which will provide an advanced broadband interconnection among Marshall University, Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, St. Mary’s Medical Center and Cabell-Huntington Hospital.
As a result:
Ø These medical facilities – which serve people in rural communities across southwestern West Virginia – will be able to share information, and therefore improve the delivery of health care, research and education.
Ø The specialty medical and treatment centers – which are served by Marshall’s School of Medicine, St. Mary’s and Cabell-Huntington – will be able to provide better care and treatment for rural residents.
Ø And rural health centers – specifically Lincoln Primary Care in Lincoln County and the Tug River Health Association in McDowell County – will be able to access remotely physicians and specialists at each of these facilities.
“This is the future of rural health care,” Rockefeller said. “We are on our way toward improving the delivery of medical services to West Virginia families, giving people greater access to the specialized care they need, and strengthening health education and research. This project is so full of promise for people in southwestern West Virginia, and I couldn’t be happier that we’re making it happen.”
“On behalf of Marshall University, I salute Senator Rockefeller’s leadership and resolve, which have helped ensure rural states like West Virginia can fully participate in broadband technologies that will have a dramatic impact on the lives and health of our residents,” said Dr. Kopp, president of Marshall University. “This project has tremendous strategic implications for education, research and clinical care in our community and the entire region.”
“This project is the first in a statewide initiative that will facilitate a health network infrastructure across West Virginia, improve broadband connectivity and advance telehealth capabilities for nearly 300 eligible rural hospitals and rural clinics,” Malone said. “The development of this health network will help to enhance healthcare delivery to rural medically underserved regions using telehealth/telemedicine technologies, help foster greater use of electronic medical records and aid in improving the collection and analysis of public health care data.”
Background:
Senator Rockefeller was instrumental in the approval of an $8.4 million award from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) through its rural health care pilot program for the WVTA to establish a statewide broadband network to provide telehealth services across West Virginia and improve access to health care in rural areas. Rockefeller announced the award in Morgantown with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in November 2007.
Rockefeller, in his position as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, this month asked the Government Accountability Office to study and review the FCC’s rural health care program – with the goal of building on this foundation and further improving efforts in telemedicine in West Virginia and across the country.
The WVTA’s “Metro Fiber Build” project is the first in a series of projects in the state under this FCC program. For more information on the WVTA and this project, visit: www.wvtelehealth.org.
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