A grant from the Luverne Area Community Foundation has allowed Sanford Luverne Clinic to purchase a portable telehealth unit for residents at the Good Samaritan Society – Mary Jane Brown Home to access care from the facility.
This unit will enable MJB residents to connect with a physician without leaving the safety and comfort of the nursing home.
Through the use of the telehealth unit, Sanford Luverne hopes to decrease emergency room visits and hospital readmissions, and reduce the stress nursing home residents may experience when being transferred to the clinic or hospital.
“Residents of the Mary Jane Brown Home can now make an appointment to be seen remotely for non-emergency health concerns such as earache, low fever or skin rash,” said Laurie Jensen, director of clinic operations at Sanford Luverne.
“Sanford Luverne Clinic staff receive vital signs and assess issues up close through the unit before determining the best course of treatment.”
Good Samaritan Society Director of Nursing Services Hali Reiter said she’s looking forward to the health care improvement.
“Telehealth visits will positively impact the resident’s quality of life by having their acute medical needs assessed by a physician more quickly and without having to go out to an appointment,” Reiter said.
About Sanford Luverne
Sanford Luverne, a 25-bed critical access hospital and attached clinic in southwest Minnesota, is owned by Sanford Health, a nonprofit integrated health system headquartered in the Dakotas.
Sanford Luverne has approximately 250 employees and 210 volunteers and is served by eight family medicine physicians, a certified nurse practitioner, general surgeon and several visiting physician specialists.