As the COVID-19 pandemic surges, so does the need for more virtual care options for patients everywhere. Thanks to a $2.2 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission, Mercy will expand and upgrade telehealth services for patients across Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
“This grant will help us extend our telehealth care to more people in the communities we serve,” said David Hinkle, executive director of business operations for Mercy’s Virtual Care Center. “When we applied for the grant as part of our response to COVID, we looked at what we did during the first few months of the pandemic and how technology enabled our initial COVID response. We were able to limit bedside exposure because patients could connect to our caregivers from home. We were also able to provide invaluable communication between hospitalized COVID patients and their families. Additional funding will provide more telehealth opportunities across Mercy’s footprint, especially in our rural facilities.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Mercy has provided more than 800,000 virtual visits between patients and Mercy Clinic medical providers, a stark increase from the 10,000 Mercy virtual visits in 2019, according to a news release. Read more.
