Robert was a long-time rural resident with multiple diagnosis including:
- Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 17
- Diabetes at the age of 33
- Kidney Failure at 44
- Cancer at 50
The nearest hospital with the specialty services he was in need of was located an hour from his home. For a large portion of his life, he was making weekly trips to this hospital for procedures, appointments, and lab testing. Many of these visits took a fraction of the time to complete than it took for Robert to drive the hospital, taking away from his family time and ability to accomplish daily activities.
If you are familiar with rural living then you already know that Robert was not alone in his struggle. Perhaps it is YOUR parent, grandparent, friend, neighbor, or you - yourself, who is continually travelling long distances to the nearest healthcare provider. Perhaps it is not that time commitment hindering your access to care but lack of transportation.
It does NOT have to be this way... Being a rural resident should NOT limit your ability to receive quality healthcare.
Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) offers a solution for rural residents. Through MIH, advanced EMTs ("physician extenders") provide heathcare services to patients in their homes while under the supervision of a physician via tele-health. Services provided may include physical and environmental assessments, reading of vitals, medication reconciliation, vaccine distribution, lab work, education, and more. The GOAL of this model is to reduce hospital re-admissions while mitigating transportation barriers by meeting patients where they are at... HOME!
Despite wanting to do the right thing for their community, rural hospitals are greatly hindered in pursuing MIH programs due to having limited capital and resources. We need YOUR help!
By giving to this RHRCO initiative, your contribution WILL help the RHRCO launch MIH in the rural communities we serve to:
- Enable rural hospitals to better meet patient needs.
- Mitigate barriers to accessing care.
- Be influential in improving the health of rural residents.
- Stand for health equity, ensuring rural residents have access to quality healthcare despite their geographic location.
- Give individuals like Robert their time and freedom back.
For more information on our programs and initiatives please visit www.RHRCO.org, follow us on LinkedIn (@RHRCO), or send us an email at [email protected].