AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Small, rural hospitals often struggle to survive because of challenges that come with providing specialized care to lightly populated communities.

Wellstar and Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia Center for Digital Health is working to change that.

Through the Wellstar Digital Care Network, Georgians in rural communities can access resources more quickly and conveniently than they could a few years ago.

About 70% of patients in the program remain at a nearby hospital for treatment, when the digital care program started in 2019, only 30% of patients remained in their local hospital.

The types of care range from adult and pediatric emergency room triage to inpatient and intensive care unit support to critical disease management.

“Our team’s digital care supplements the great work already being done at these rural hospitals,” said Dr. Matt Lyon, MD, director of MCG’s Center for Digital Health and specialist in emergency medicine. “We do more than support these fantastic care teams as they treat their patients. We also uplift their communities by helping keep their healthcare local.”

This allows telehealth visits at several rural hospitals:

• Burke Health: Waynesboro (Burke County)
• Jefferson Hospital: Louisville (Jefferson County)
• Jenkins County Medical Center: Millen
• Washington County Regional Medical Center: Sandersville
• Wills Memorial Hospital: Washington (Wilkes County)

“We noticed that a high number of our patients would avoid care instead of driving farther distances to larger healthcare institutions. Because of the advanced care offered through the Digital Care Network, we were able to expand our existing services and offer more critical care, which enabled more people to receive care locally,” said Michael Purvis, former chief executive officer of Candler County Hospital and currently chief executive officer of Dodge County Hospital.

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