SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
FOR RELEASE: August 17, 2001
CONTACT: Bernie Osberg, (605) 773-3364

     PIERRE — South Dakota has received a $605,000 federal grant, the latest in a string of grants sought by the Department of Health to strengthen rural hospitals. The grant comes to the department through its participation in the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program. 

     The funds will help more rural hospitals convert to "critical access" status and develop telemedicine networks, said Doneen Hollingsworth, Secretary of Health. "This grant is a good example of South Dakota taking a federal initiative and making the most of it to meet our own rural health care needs," said Hollingsworth. "Over the past two years we've used grant funds from this program to help 22 rural hospitals earn Medicare certification as critical access facilities. As a result, they get paid more when they serve Medicare patients, no small advantage when we consider that rural facilities typically see a higher percentage of Medicare patients."

     In its previous two years of funding under the program, South Dakota has received $1,116,00 in grant funding. Hollingsworth said the dollars have funded the critical access conversion process for hospitals, including financial feasibility studies. In addition, the department has directed the funds to hospitals for projects that build or enhance technology infrastructure.

     In 2000, the department awarded a total of $243,000 to rural hospitals in Eureka, Flandreau, Gettysburg, Platte and Webster to acquire and upgrade computers that could be networked to create cost efficiencies and improve patient care.

     In 2001, grants totaling $377,000 went to 11 hospitals to help develop telehealth projects and improve patient care:

• Platte is implementing a school health project that lets students at school access health professionals using the Dakota Digital Network; 
• Britton, Scotland and Clear Lake are all implementing telemedicine-based home health care programs over a telephone lines;
• Eureka, Faulkton, Hot Springs, and Sturgis are each developing teleradiology connections to access radiologists at other hospitals;
• Flandreau is developing digital and video connections between two ambulances and the emergency room so doctors can examine patients en route to the hospital;
• Bowdle and Freeman are using video-conferencing equipment to set up distance learning programs for local health care professionals.

     "When we surveyed rural hospitals more than a year ago, we learned that they wanted to take advantage of telemedicine's potential but needed help putting together the technology," said Hollingsworth. "That's why we've devoted such a big portion of the grant to funding telemedicine projects."

     The 22 rural hospitals that have been Medicare certified as critical access are located in Armour, Britton, Bowdle, Burke, Clear Lake, Custer, Deadwood, Eureka, Faulkton, Flandreau, Freeman, Gettysburg, Hot Springs, Lemmon, Martin, Platte, Philip, Redfield, Scotland, Sturgis, Wagner, and Webster. The department anticipates that two more rural hospitals will be certified by the end of the year.

     More information about the critical access hospital program is available on the department web site.