On Nov. 19, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the Rural Health Care Pilot program, which is using $417 million to benefit 69 participants in 42 states and three U.S. territories. The funding is being granted to cover up to 85 percent of costs associated with the following, as they relate to rural health care:
(1) construction of a state or regional broadband network and the advanced telecommunications and information services provided over that network
(2) connecting to Internet 2 or National LambdaRail
(3) connecting to the public Internet.
North Carolina won four of the 69 grants:
Albemarle Network Telemedicine Initiative: max. support $1,583,076
North Carolina Telehealth Network: max. support $6,023,985
Western Carolina University: max. support $3,596,290
University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina: max. support $960,939
To review additional details about these projects, visit:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/rural/rhcp.html
http://www.usac.org/rhc-pilot-program/#
This networking project will promote telehealth and telemedicine access for rural health care providers (public and free clinics) to medical hubs, which are often located in urban areas. The benefits of telehealth and telemedicine applications that ride over broadband facilities are enormous, and a broadband network that connects multiple health care providers, including a significant number in rural areas, would bring those benefits to areas of the country where the need is most acute.
The e-NC Authority has been contracted as of September 2008 to participate as a major part of the program management effort during the network development phase. Be on the lookout for an RFP from the e-NC Authority by mid-late April.
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