Grant Funding – Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance

New Consortium Funded

Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance wins $900,000 in Federal funds to establish Eastern Shore Telehealth Consortium

Telehealth Network to Bring Additional Telehealth Services to Virginia’s Eastern Shore

Tappahannock, Virginia: Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance (BRTA) has been awarded federal grant funds of $900,000 over 3 years for its development of the Eastern Shore Telehealth Consortium (ESTC). This grant establishes a sustainable consortium designed to build a telehealth delivery system infrastructure to promote increased resources, innovation, and coordination of health services on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

The initial project for ESTC is to help coordinate services for individuals living on the Eastern Shore, with mental health and substance use disorders(SUD) and/or opioid use disorder(OUD) by linking treatment resources through telehealth. Over the next three years, ESTC will work with community partners to increase the use of evidenced-based and culturally appropriate OUD/SUD interventions through telehealth-enabled innovations.

The federal funding comes from the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services Rural Health Network Development Program which exists to increase access to healthcare in rural areas through the expansion of telehealth technology.

BRTA and ESTC will partner with Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital, Eastern Shore Community Services Board, Eastern Shore Regional Jail, Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Virginia Department of Health to create the Consortium. If any agency is interested in learning more about the Consortium and partnering opportunities, please contact Donna Dittman Hale.

BRTA’s executive director, Donna Dittman Hale, said “We are excited to support the organizations on Virginia’s Eastern Shore to enhance the system of care with technology, telecommunications and integrated systems of care.” BRTA hired Mary Ochsner to lead the ESTC. As former director of the Senior Perspectives program at RSMH, she has proven ability to pull together community service providers to support the health of community residents.

The mission of the Eastern Shore Telehealth Consortium is to increase access to healthcare for all people on the Eastern Shore by offering a telemedicine delivery model and supporting virtual health projects. The vision is for telehealth to contribute to better health and well-being for all populations in Virginia’s Eastern Shore Communities.

Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance is a mature telehealth network whose vision is for virtual health strategies to contribute to better health and well-being for populations in Virginia communities. BRTA will serve as a mentor and fiscal agent to foster the growth and success of the Eastern Shore Telehealth Consortium.

Grants

Bridges to Cardiovascular Population Health

Bridges to Cardiovascular Population Health addresses the health-related challenges to overcome the geographic and economic barriers faced by patients in rural communities.

The goal of the project is to: expand the delivery of health care services in rural communities to improve population health and demonstrate health outcomes and sustainability, integrating remote patient monitoring, behavioral health and chronic disease self-management training in primary care physicians’ offices, in a rural area.

HRSA RHO Grant Number: D04RH31770

Rural Communities Opioid Response Program

Comprehensive Opioid Response Through Behavioral Health Networks grant is designed to use telemedicine to address the opioid crisis in rural Virginia.

The goal of the project is to: address the issue of opioid addiction by increasing the capacity of the behavioral health services system in the Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck and Eastern Shore regions of Virginia, extend the reach and technical capability of behavioral health providers so that assessments, consultations, and counseling are available in remote areas, provide professional development for providers as well as medical and human service professionals, replace obsolete video equipment in order to improve video capability at rural hospitals, continue the primary care and specialty care visits currently provided, incorporate the opioid assessment, education, and related activities of this new proposal.

USDA RUS Grant Number: VA 713-B58

School-Based Telehealth Initiative

School-Based Telehealth Initiative: BRTA works with the Northumberland, and Westmoreland County Public Schools to bring healthcare services directly into schools giving students in these rural areas greater access to healthcare. The school-based health services focus on improving access to care, plus behavioral health. HRSA TNGP Grant Number: H2ARH30289

Eastern Shore Telehealth Consortium

The Eastern Shore Telehealth Consortium grant establishes a sustainable consortium designed to build a telehealth delivery system infrastructure to promote increased resources, innovation, and coordination of health services on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

The initial project for ESTC is to help coordinate services for individuals living on the Eastern Shore, with mental health and substance use disorders (SUD) and/or opioid use disorder (OUD) by linking treatment resources through telehealth. This consortium is designed to build a telehealth delivery system infrastructure to promote increased resources, innovation, and coordination of health services on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

HRSA RHND Grant # D06RH37494

Community Bridges Collaborative

The focus of the Community Bridges Collaborative is to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) by expanding the capabilities of the behavioral health services infrastructure, instituting and enhancing evidence-based and evidence-informed practices, and providing workforce development opportunities and telehealth-enabled innovations to increase access to services in our service area.

HRSA RCORP Grant Number: GA1RH39537