Rural Understaffed Hospitals Get Help From A Virtual ER Staff Via Video

SIOUX FALLS, SD- OCTOBER 16: Dr. Katie DeJong take a follow-up call from and earlier case on October 16, 2019. She's next to the library of log books that contain information on each of the more than 175 rural hospitals that subscribe to the Avera eCare remote emergency room service. The books contain detailed information and phone numbers about the staff, location of the nearest airports for medical evacuation and even a list of equipment that's available in each small hospital. As hospitals and physicians continue to disappear from rural America there is an attempt to fill the void: a telemedicine center run by Avera Health that provides remote emergency care for more than 175 understaffed hospitals across thirty states. Physicians work out of high-tech cubicles instead of exam rooms. They wear scrubs to look the part of traditional doctors on camera, even though they never directly see or touch their patients. They respond to hundreds of emergencies each month using remote controlled cameras and computer screens at what has become rural Americas busiest hospital, which is in fact a virtual hospital located in a suburban industrial park. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)