March 17-23, 2008
| Also online at http://www.vrha.org/weeklies.html | March 17-23, 2008 |
In this Issue...
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The new Newsletter from the Office of Minority Health and Public Health Policy |
| VRHA News |
| Virginia Rural Health News |
By Jim Hall - Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star "This is probably the most important new piece of technology we have," said Pamela Thorpe, coordinator of cultural services. The device consists of a television monitor, outfitted with camera and microphone, that connects the deaf patient with a sign-language interpreter. The service is available at any time of the day or night. The manufacturer says its goal is to supply an interpreter within eight minutes. At Mary Washington, the device is based in the emergency room but is wireless and can be used anywhere in the building. The hospital purchased the $7,500 service in October and has already used it several times, Thorpe said. Recently the staff moved the unit into the cardiac catheterization lab to communicate with a deaf patient there. They also used it to hasten the discharge of another deaf patient.
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| Health Careers Manual |
The Virginia AHEC program announces that the new edition of the Virginia Health Careers Manual is available for distribution. You can request copies by contacting your local AHEC or the state program office at VCU.
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| Virginia SEARCH Program |
The Virginia SEARCH Program reports that the National Health Service Corps has brought their SEARCH program out of abeyance, but only for a three month period while decisions are made regarding reductions throughout the federal government. News on continuation for this calendar year is expected to arrive any day. For the first three months of the year, SEARCH arranged for and/or supported twenty community based primary care clinical rotations. Rotation sites included Tappahannock, Danville, St. Stephen's Church, Farmville and White Stone. Students included those enrolled in medical school, nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs. You can see these student projects at www.vasearch.org.
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| National Rural Health News |
VA Vows to Tackle Rural Health |
Facing a barrage of complaints about veterans’ health care in rural America, the incoming secretary of Veteran Affairs pledged Wednesday to address 'systemic' issues that hobble the quality and accessibility of care. Secretary James Peake heard from a group of about 100 Montana veterans who described the Department of Veterans Affairs as a sometimes dysfunctional bureaucracy — and one particularly slow to address mental health issues. Veterans told him they face months-long waits for appointments, arbitrary rejections of claims and 500-mile trips to receive care. Those who spoke spanned generations, including veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and peacetime service. Read the full article.
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| Survey Shows Preference for Rural Medicine |
Physicians need more exposure to practice options and opportunities in rural health care, if recent physician survey results from LocumTenens.com are any indication. When the physician recruiting firm asked respondents who had no rural health care experience why they had never practiced in rural America: Only 15% said they didn't want to live there and only 6% said they didn't want to work there. At the same time, the majority of respondents who had rural health experience (almost 800 respondents) said they prefer practicing rural medicine, but prefer urban/suburban living:
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| The Economy of Rural Telemedicine |
The National Center for Rural Health Works has released a new paper: The Economic Impact of Telemedicine Capability in a Rural Hospital. The document seeks to explain some of the most common forms of telemedicine used in rural areas today and determine their importance to the local economy.
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Do you have exciting rural health news that needs to be shared? Do you know of an upcoming health-related event which should be on our calendar? E-mail Beth O'Connor at: boconnor@vcom.vt.edu |
Disclaimer: The VRHA circulates state and national news as an information service only. Inclusion of information is not intended as an endorsement. If you prefer to receive email in plain text or rtf format instead of html or if you receive this email more than once, email VRHA. |
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Virginia Rural Health Association The leading voice for rural health in Virginia |
2265 Kraft Drive  Blacksburg Virginia 24060 Ph: 540-231-7923 Fax: 540-231-5338 www.vrha.org |
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32% said they'd never found the right rural medicine opportunity