Telemedicine Sponsors
In 1997, the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Telemedicine was formed to provide telemedicine and telehealth services to four sites in southwest Virginia . This initiative was awarded federal funding from the United States Department of Commerce NTIA TIIAP (TOP) grant program, the Virginia Healthcare Foundation, the Office of Planning and Policy of the Virginia Department of Health (Critical Access Hospital Program) and corporate and foundation sponsors including Buchanan County, Verizon, Sprint, the Baxter Foundation and the WestWind Foundation.
In 1999, with funding from the Rural Utilities Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the project was expanded to six sites. The Southwest Virginia Alliance for Telemedicine utilizes the statewide ATM network, Network Virginia, for connectivity. Each remote site in southwest Virginia has a T1 connection to the network for telemedicine, distance learning, and Internet access.
In 2000, the WestWind Foundation funded the establishment of the Craig County School Health project and provided support for the linkage to the St. Mary’s Health Wagon in Clinchco, Virignia.
Since September 2002 the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) has provided funds ($326,000) to establish six Telemedicine sites in Southwest Virginia. These sites are all fully equipped with state of the art Telemedicine equipment and are part of the overall UVa Telemedicine network. In addition, OAT funded the procurement of a non-mydriatic fundus camera located at our site in Saltville, Virginia. This camera allows the clinician to screen diabetic patients for retinopathy with fundus photography. Those digital images are forwarded to the UVa Dept of Ophthalmology for evaluation and treatment recommendations.
In October 2002 the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) provided additional funds for an expansion of our telemedicine program. These two agencies, have provided more than $260,000 to fund the establishment of ten fully equipped Telemedicine sites and a retinopathy Screening Camera throughout western and southwest Virginia . Matching funds from the local communities have strengthened telemedicine operations in their hospitals and clinics.
In March 2003, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield awarded a $250,000 grant to UVA Telemedicine to extend the reach of specialty services to rural Virginia communities and foster research and development in telemedicine services. “Telemedicine is one the most rapidly growing areas of medicine today, and we believe it holds great promise for improving the health of all Virginians. We are enthusiastic about our role in advancing this medical frontier,” said Tom Snead, president, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Southeast region.
September 2004, the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) awarded an additional $177,000 to expand to three additional sites, Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Augusta Medical Center and Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital. This funding was awarded through a Congressional appropriation requested by Congressman Bob Goodlatte (6th-R).