Office of Telemedicine History
April 1993: Eugene Sullivan, LTC United States Army (Ret.) was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Virginia Neurological Institute (VNI) to conduct a demonstration of Telemedicine and to proceed with research and development studies. Mr. Sullivan, now Director of UVA's Office of Telemedicine, introduced and demonstrated Telemedicine to the University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA. The initial demonstrations linked UVA with Army Reserve Field Hospital at Fort Gordon, Georgia, with the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. Using fiber optic lines and ATM switches voice, video, and data were transferred between these three locations. Specialists at UVA were able to assist their colleagues at off-site locations, hence a new era of medicine evolved.
October 1994: The Virginia Neurological Institute Office of Advanced Technologies, using a fiber optic link donated by CFW Communications and Sprint deploys a testbed with a community hospital in the Shenandoah Valley to bring interactive educational services to community physicians.
December 1996: Agreement signed with Department of Corrections to provide services to 5 correctional facilities in Central Virginia.