A new telemedicine program, utilizing West Virginia University Medicine critical care and trauma specialists, has been launched to support patients at WVU Grant Memorial Hospital in Petersburg.
The virtual ICU was implemented at Grant Memorial Hospital in June. Through video technology, a team of intensivists at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown can collaborate with physicians, nurses, and staff from GMH to provide specialty consults with the click of a button. Through this new platform, intensivists and local providers can conduct “virtual rounds” with patients in the GMH Special Care Unit. They can also be available in a 24-hour, on-call status to add support for emergent concerns that might arise both in the SCU and emergency department.
“As a critical access hospital member of the WVU Medicine system, GMH is working hard to bring more advanced care to our community, reducing travel to out of area providers,” stated Elaine Geroski, chief nursing officer at Grant Memorial. “There are still conditions that a small hospital cannot treat locally, but this technology helps bring the expertise of JW Ruby specialists to Petersburg and provides additional capabilities that were before out of reach.”
This program augments the high-quality care already provided at GMH by allowing the care team to share the decision-making process with providers at J.W. Ruby and implement treatment and/or interventions quickly. In the past, this level of care could only be provided at a larger hospital. This is just the latest innovation that the GMH team is working on for the residents of the region who trust Grant Memorial for their care.