Newton Medical Center (NMC) announces a partnership with Shriners Hospitals for Children of St. Louis, Missouri, to provide children and local families with increased access to their specialists at the pediatric specialty care hospital.
As a new telehealth location for Shriners, NMC will provide an opportunity for patients in Kansas and beyond to receive consultations from physicians and caregivers at the St. Louis hospital, via new state-of-the-art telehealth equipment. The new equipment will be located in the hospital’s Newton Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine clinic, which will also provide a reception area for patients and help facilitate appointments.
Shriners Hospitals for Children are known for their care in orthopaedics, cleft lip and palate, spinal cord injury rehabilitation and in burns and soft tissue conditions, and the NMC location allows interaction via high-speed internet and high definition cameras. Additionally, medical information is transmitted electronically via digital stethoscopes, otoscopes, dermoscopes and general exam hand-held cameras providing great detail for physicians at the Shriners Hospital.
“Shriners Hospitals for Children are committed to serving patients and families with more convenient and flexible care,” said Phillip Grady, DHA, FACHE, administrator at Shriners Hospital for Children – St. Louis. “Our hospitals have been providing telehealth services throughout the country for nearly a decade; however, this launch marks an advance in technology and the hospital’s agility in the continually changing delivery models for health care.”
NMC was identified as the ideal organization to partner with based on the hospital’s established telemedicine program. The partnership helps local Shriners connect local families with the highly specialized care they need, while helping them save money on transportation costs to the St. Louis hospital.
“The opportunity to help even more children access care they need in a way that is convenient for families was something we wanted to support,” says Val Gleason, NMC President and CEO. “Newton Medical Center is committed to providing healthcare by understanding and responding to the individual needs of those we serve. It’s such an honor to be able to serve the children and families of our community in this way.”
The new telehealth collaboration is something the members of the Midian Shriners throughout southern and western Kansas have been looking forward to better serve in the children in the large geographic area their chapter covers.
“Midian Shriners in Wichita are excited about the potential of Telehealth in Newton providing quicker and cost-effective care for our Shrine patients,” said Norman Conley, potentate of Midian Shriners in Wichita. “This is a partnership that our center needs in order to be better stewards of care for our young people. The rapid increase in ‘points of care’ within the Shriners Hospital system is welcome to those of us whose geographical areas include a great deal of rural space. Midian’s domain stretches from Greenwood, Elk, and Chautauqua Counties in SE Kansas to the western border of Kansas and Colorado. We are proud to be able to help young people receive the medical treatments they need.”
About Shriners Hospitals for Children
The primary mission of Shriners Hospitals for Children is to help children who need specialized medical care – wherever they may live. Although our locations are primarily in North America, our compassionate health care system has treated children from more than 150 countries, and conducts more than 100 medical outreach clinics outside of the U.S. every year. Our highly-skilled medical teams treat children with neuromusculoskeletal conditions, burn injuries and other complex health care needs. To learn more, please visit www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.
The new telehealth technology for Shriners Hospitals for Children:
- Provides physicians with an easy-to-use telehealth solution to deliver care more conveniently and efficiently.
- Improves Shriners Hospitals’ ability to collaborate with local physicians to make informed patient care decisions and coordinate care.
- Enables Shriners Hospitals to forge new partnerships with local physicians.
- Improves quality of life for the patient and families.
- Enables opportunities to extend care in rural areas, at outreach clinics and at other international locations.
