Posted: 1/11/05
Grupa wants telehealth clinic here
Houston County Public Health Director Linda Grupa is applying for a federal grant of at least $50,000 to set up a ìtelehealth clinicî for jail inmates, veterans, and mental health patients.
She told county commissioners on January 4 that telehealth an innovative approach that would be unique to a city the size of Caledonia.
ìIt is the future,î she said. She predicted that a lot of business would be done this way within five years.
Using this system, public health nurses would be linked via computer to physicians who could ask questions and look at data that the nurse provides.
It would be like a regular clinic, she said, but the doctor would be on a computer screen.
ìIt would just be a virtual physician presence,î she said.
Doctors at the Veterans Administration could link to it, as could a psychiatrist with the Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Consortium.
It could save veterans transportation time and expense to St. Paul, she said.
Sheriff Mike Lee and chief deputy Ken Frank both said telehealth would be beneficial because the sheriffís department would not have to transport high-risk prisoners.
The board approved her pursuing the grant, which has a February 1 deadline.
Caledonia Argus
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