Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Gogebic, three other counties to benefit
By RICHARD JENKINS
WASHINGTON D.C. — Gogebic County is one of four Upper Peninsula counties sharing close to $100,000 in funding for expanded telemedicine services, Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced Thursday.
Ortele Health received a $99,978 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide telehealth treatment for opioid misuse and general medical care in Gogebic, Mackinac, Luce and Marquette counties in the U.P., and two counties downstate.
“Michigan families in rural communities often lack access to health care services close to home,” Stabenow said in the announcement that came on National Rural Health Day. “Thanks to state-of-the-art telehealth technology, patients in the U.P. are able to get important checkups and medical care even though the doctor is hundreds of miles away.”
The investment will allow Ortele to establish a hub site in Wayne County in the Detroit area that will connect with sites in Gogebic and the other counties, according to information on the USDA’s website.
The project is expected to serve 44,000 rural residents, according to the USDA website.
Along the $99,978 in funds for Ortele, Stabenow announced Helen Newberry Joy Hospital will receive $500,000 to purchase telemedicine equipment for three sites in Mackinac and Luce counties, as well as upgrading mammography equipment to improve cancer detection. Close to 3,100 patients are expected to be served in this program’s first three years, according to the USDA’s site.
The almost $600,000 for the two projects was included in the 2018 Farm Bill as part of the USDA’s Rural Development Distance Learning and Telemedicine program.
Stabenow, the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry, was a co-author of the bill.
