Rural Hospitals share in communications program

Governor Charlie Crist this week awarded Opportunity Florida Inc. a Rural Infrastructure Fund grant totaling $1.12 million in support of a Federal Communications Commission Broadband Pilot Project. The grant will be used to connect nine rural hospitals and one rural health care clinic to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in Tallahassee, Sacred Heart in Pensacola and Bay Medical in Panama City. Hospitals that will benefit from the network include Weems Memorial in Apalachicola and the Sacred Heart Hospital in Gulf County that should be constructed soon. The Calhoun/Liberty County hospital, as well as rural hospitals in Holmes, Jackson and Taylor Counties will also be connected to the network. The “telehealth” network will help to improve the quality of health care in rural areas by providing the ability to rapidly transmit large files, exchange health information with other facilities, and participate in distance learning with the FSU College of Medicine. The grant is a part of the Federal Communications Commission Rural Health Care Pilot Program that expands access to health care to America's rural and underserved communities.