Lack of broadband service, funding gives rise to telehealth services in rural clinics

In rural West Texas, limited broadband access and funding gaps are pushing some clinics to deliver care through telehealth setups that don’t rely on traditional facilities. Lubbock-based Davis Mountain Clinic in Fort Davis operates from a renovated shipping container, staffed by one nurse, Carol Brewer, who connects patients to doctors and psychologists online. The clinic uses telehealth cameras to link residents with physicians from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and counseling services via Texas A&M University’s Telehealth Institute. The effort was enabled through collaboration between the two universities and local county ownership of the land. Texas has expanded pediatric telehealth funding as 143 counties lack a practicing pediatrician.