St. John's Cassville location receives grant funding

St. John’s Hospital - Cassville is among Mercy Health System facilities to benefit from a $495,926 U.S. Department of Agriculture telemedicine grant.

Mercy Health System's Cassville facility is one of six facilities participating in the grant project, chosen because of their distance from urban areas and because their communities exceed national poverty rates. The other facilities are in Mountain View; Berryville, Ark.; Ozark, Ark.; Paris, Ark.; and Waldron, Ark., according to a news release.

"We intentionally chose areas where there is the greatest medical need,” said Dr. Tom Hale, executive medical director of Mercy’s Center for Innovative Care, which attained the grant funding for the project.

The three-year tele-home project will provide the facilities with monitoring devices, allowing patients to electronically transmit results from home via computer or telephone directly to their physicians. The project targets patients with chronic ailments, such as diabetes, heart disease and respiratory disease, according to the release.

"We are excited about utilizing innovative technology to help care for our patients, which should make care more accessible for our rural communities and improve care though a patient-centered approach,” Dr. Jaime Zengotita, a St. John’s - Cassville physician, said in the release.[[In-content Ad]]