23 Telemedicine Grants Awarded

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on June 28^th approved 23 grant applications as part of the Commission’s Medical Telecommunications Equipment Program. These grants are being funded by the state’s Universal Service Fund and total nearly $1 million. The grants range from $3,000 to $116,269 and include one tribal health agency, two county health agencies, and twenty non-profit medical organizations.

The purpose for the grant program is to promote technologically advanced medical services, to improve access to medical care in rural or underserved areas of the state and to enhance access to medical care by underserved populations or persons with disabilities. The grants target projects that demonstrate the use of advanced telecommunications services.

Several of the grants awarded:

• Home Health United of Dane County and St. Vincent & St. Mary’s Hospital in Green Bay received grants to purchase improved in-home health monitoring equipment to permit better day-to-day care for patients recovering at home

• Aspirus, Inc. of Wausau, Lakes Community Health Center of Iron River, and Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation of La Crosse will receive funds to purchase telemedicine carts

Other grants provide funds to purchase digital x-ray equipment and teleconferencing equipment to permit medical imagery to be evaluated by radiologists and other specialists located in other cities, equipment to promote consumer awareness of the dangers of strokes, and funds to purchase an improved telecommunications system for a non-profit organization operating three clinics in Sawyer County.

For more information, go to http://psc.wi.gov/ and then click on news.