Fletcher Allen joins Adirondack – Champlain Telemedicine

Rural health care facilities in eight counties and in northern New York have joined with Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington to have high quality, affordable digital connectivity necessary to share telemedicine and telehealth services beginning in late November. 

The Adirondack – Champlain Telemedicine Information Network (ACTION) is a regional initiative formed to create a fiber optic telecommunications and telemedicine network that connects eight participating hospitals, 40 primary care facilities affiliated with these hospitals and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Health Services facility.  The network encompasses Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Rensselaer, Saratoga, St. Lawrence, Warren and Washington counties in New York and extends to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont. 

Participants in the project held a press conference on Monday at CVPH Medical Center to discuss the merits of the program and to thank the government officials who helped find funding to make it possible.

They were unanimous in stating their belief that the fiber optic telecommunications system will improve health care quality, patient safety and maximize cost efficiencies at a time when health care is being asked to do more for less cost.

US Congressman Bill Owens, State Senator Betty Little and Assemblywoman Janet Duprey all played a role in gaining funding for the project and were on hand to commend the work that has been done and to extol the benefits when it is operational.

The Research Foundation of the State University of New York is the legal entity that administers the FCC program for the Rural Health Care Pilot Program (RHCPP) contract of $8,998,004.00 awarded to ACTION and they are assisted in this effort by the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization (FDRHPO) out of Watertown, New York.

The lead eligible health care provider and the fiscal administrator are two separate entities from within the ACTION consortium.  CVPH Medical Center is the lead eligible provider for the FCC RHCPP and the State University of New York (SUNY) serves as the fiscal administrator.

The involvement of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, an eligible healthcare educational entity, is the link to the Research Foundation of SUNY.  The Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit educational corporation that administers externally funded contracts and grants for and on behalf of the State University of New York (SUNY) campuses. 

To provide the most cost effective access to all 49 participants, the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) will utilize multiple local service provider networks to connect ACTION member locations throughout the region. DANC’s working relationships for the ACTION network include these service providers:

·         ION

·         Westelcom

·         PrimeLink

·         Tech Valley Communications

·         SLIC Network Solutions