Spotlight on the News
USDA Awards $5.1M to UVA's Center for Telehealth
USDA (https://www.usda.gov) Deputy Secretary Xochitl Small met with the University of Virginia (UVA) Health leaders and other health institutions in Virginia in late July. He explained, "The Administration's goal is to expand access to healthcare for more than 5 million people living in 39 states and Puerto Rico by awarding $129 million in Emergency Rural Health Care Grants."
To further expand healthcare and telehealth in Southwest Virginia, $45.1 million was awarded to the UVA School of Medicine's Karen S. Rheuban Center for Telehealth (https://uvahealth.com/services/telemedicine) along with a coalition of partners focused on combating health problems in Southwest Virginia.
The coalition called the "Virginia Consortium to Advance healthcare in Appalachia" includes the UVA Center for Telehealth, Healthy Appalachia Institute at the University of Virginia's College at Wise, Southwest Virginia Health Authority, Health Wagon, Tri-Area Health, and Ballad Health.
The consortium's goal is to expand the region's access to care for COVID-19 and chronic health conditions that were worsened by the pandemic, plus establish a long term blueprint for providing care in rural communities. The Consortium is being supported through funding from USDA's Emergency Rural Health Care Grants Program.
According to Center for Telehealth Director, Karen Rheuban, MD, "The USDA grant will be used to improve Appalachia regional infrastructure training programs, provide access to LONG COVID services, and enable strategic planning in partnership with UVA's College at Wise, and the Southwest Virginia Health Authority."
The goal is to keep expanding access with technology by enabling interactive home monitoring, provide virtual urgent care, expand UVA's Health Isolation Communication Management System, expand the Post COVID-19 care clinic in Southwest Virginia, expand Virtual Telemental Healthcare and InnoVAte funded programs, provide UVA's Project ECHO training, and provide UVA's Health's eConsults programs so providers are able to consult via EMRs.