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Myrah Keating’s Telemedicine Link to Close

Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center didn’t get a lot of bang for the buck is how director Dr. Joseph DeJames put it when speaking about the Schneider Regional Hospital Center Board’s refusal Wednesday to renew a telemedicine contract with Cleveland Clinic.

“There’s really not money to pay for this stuff,” he said.

DeJames likened it to putting fancy rims on a car that needed a major overhaul.

He said that last year there were 90 visits that involved the telemedicine link with Cleveland Clinic. Most of those involved patients who needed rheumatology consultations because there are no rheumatologists practicing anywhere in the territory. However, DeJames said that a rheumatology diagnosis mainly calls for blood work, so having patients viewed via teleconferencing wasn’t that useful.

The telemedicine program also offered consultation in dermatology, cardiology and pulmonology, which weren’t used that often, he said.

Miles Stair, a hospital board member from St. John, declined to comment and referred questions to board Chairman Cornell Williams. He did not return a call requesting comment.

The telemedicine equipment is leased from Cleveland Clinic so when the contract expires Feb. 21, DeJames said it will be returned to the Florida-based hospital.

There was a lot of buzz in September 2009 when the Rotary Club of St. John agreed to funnel $72,000 from a private donor to get the project rolling. Rotary member John Fuller said Rotary continued to pay $1,000 a month for the Internet line, and Wednesday wrote a check to pay $32,179 toward what Myrah Keating owes Cleveland Clinic. The V.I. Daily News reported that Myrah Keating owes Cleveland Clinic $60,000 for services.

Fuller said Rotary has no money to continue to pay for the project.

“Rotary is somewhat disappointed that it was not more successful and the government didn’t continue it,” Fuller said.

DeJames said that it wasn’t a money maker for Myrah Keating because the cost for the patient visit went to the Cleveland Clinic, not Myrah Keating.

On the plus side, he said that having the health center provide telemedicine was helpful in that it fostered relationships with physicians at Cleveland Clinic so he had a contact when a patient wanted off-island care.

He said that Myrah Keating has such pressing financial issues, he often is among the people who work on the heath center’s vehicles to keep them running. DeJames also sees patients.

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