On Thursday, September 30, Sparta Community Hospital’s IT Department delivered one of their CureCompanion Telemedicine Kits to Randolph County Nursing Home. Sparta Community Hospital received a grant to purchase the Telemedicine Kits from the National Rural Health Resource Center.
Susan Gutjahr, IT Director, Hilary Dressler, IT Network Administrator, Cheryl Adams, Administrator At-Home Health Care Services, and Russell Coulter, MD, provided training for the RCNH staff. At-Home Health Services staff has been using portable Telemedicine Kits for several months with very positive outcomes for their patients.
“The internet has made profound changes for the practice of telemedicine.” states CEO, Joann Emge. “Smart devices, capable of high-quality video transmission, opened up the possibility of delivering remote healthcare to patients in their homes, assisted living and nursing home facilities as an alternative to in-person visits for both primary and specialty care. Providing one of these kits to Randolph County Nursing Home will now provide the same telemedicine services to their residents, allowing the staff to connect with providers from their facility to examine and diagnose the patient without having to transfer them out of the nursing home.”
During the pandemic, Sparta Community Hospital and Quality Healthcare Clinics sought grants to provide support to purchase telemedicine equipment. After receiving grants, they now have the ability to provide telehealth services at both the hospital and Quality Healthcare Clinics.
Pictured-lt-rt. Russell Coulter, MD posed as the provider at the hospital as Cheryl Adams, At-Home Health Administrator trains Christina Parker, RN, Director of Nursing, Randolph County Care Center, on using the stethoscope on the new CureCompanion Telemedicine Kit.