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BISBEE — Copper Queen Community Hospital is proof that persistence pays off.
Edward L. Browning, a USDA state director, praised the hospital for its tenacity when presenting a $183,108 check on Wednesday.
“This was the second grant application that Copper Queen Community Hospital submitted to the USDA,” Browning said. “We’re pleased with your persistence and to be a part of this award.”
Browning, who is the Arizona state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency, was in Bisbee to officially present the federal grant to the hospital.
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Awarded under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program, the money will go toward implementing infrastructure improvements that are needed to support the hospital’s Home Health Telemedicine Monitoring program.
“Copper Queen Valley Home Health is one of the few remaining hospital-based home health services in Cochise County,” said Jim Dickson, the hospital’s chief executive officer.
The grant will fund additional home health monitors, as well as an electronic medical record network and a mobile unit at Bisbee’s Senior Center.
“This money will fund the second half of our effort to bring Telemedicine into homes,” Dickson said. “Our electronic medical records allow doctors to go on a Web database and see how their patients are doing while in the field.”
Under the management of Margaret Irwin, a registered nurse with Copper Queen Community Hospital, the home health program will improve the quality and quantity of health care throughout Cochise County.
“Because patients in the county’s most remote areas can be monitored from their homes, this provides a system for continuity in care,” Dickson said. “With patients spread over 4,000 square miles, our home health system helps us expand access to primary health care.”
The telemonitors, which use phone- and video-based technology, can monitor the patient’s blood pressure, weight, respiration and other vital signs.
“By assessing the patient in the home, it helps with the nursing shortage and avoids making unnecessary trips to the doctor’s office or the emergency room,” Dickson added.
Browning, who grew up in Willcox, was named as state director for the USDA’s rural development program in 2001.
“Rural regions present unique health care challenges,” Browning said.
“These kinds of grants literally reach out and save lives while improving the quality of life in rural regions.”
Copper Queen Community Hospital received one of three grants that were awarded in the state of Arizona. Nationwide, there were 165 eligible applicants, from which 78 recipients were selected.
The grant review committee came from the USDA’s national office.
“Our home health program allows us to reach a growing number of patients in this area, and serve them more efficiently and effectively,” Dickson said.
“I can’t thank Eddie Browning and the USDA enough.”
Herald/Review reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or by e-mail at dana.cole@svherald.com.
