The Delta Regional Authority and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) have initiated a new telehealth delivery and education center to increase access to affordable quality healthcare and expand medical training to providers across the state of Mississippi.
The new program called the “Mississippi Delta Healthcare Workforce and Technology Project” will provide education to more than 500 healthcare professionals across the state by partnering with 32 local hospitals and anticipates being able to produce 200 new jobs.
Dr. Kristi Henderson, Director of Telehealth for UMMC and her team have already established the infrastructure, staff capacity, and curriculum for UMMC to provide around-the-clock training and support for health professionals throughout the state.
Specifically, the project is working towards:
- Creating a workforce development program to train Community Health Workers (CHW) and Community Health Advocates (CHA) through distance learning and video conferencing
- Expanding the workforce development program to encompass UMMCs Mental Health Nurse Practitioner training program
- Expanding UMMC’s Telehealth Operations Center to operate as a full time call center to schedule educational opportunities and route callers to appropriate on-call healthcare providers
So far, the project has developed training curriculum for the CHA training program as well as the content for Mental Health Nurse Practitioner training. In addition, UMMC has purchased and is installing the necessary web-based video collaboration equipment and software needed to conduct these training programs.
According to Phil Bryant the Governor of the state, “Not only can we use telemedicine technology to increase access to care in rural and medically underserved areas, but telemedicine will also create jobs.”
For more information, go to the UMMC Telehealth Center at www.umc.edu/telehealth or call 601-815-1787.