NEWPORT — North Country Hospital has announced a partnership with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UVM Children’s Hospital that includes the launch of a new Telemedicine Program, marking a significant step forward in neonatal care for their Maternal Child Health Unit.
The collaboration centers around an advanced telemedicine device, designed to enable North Country pediatricians to conduct real-time video consultations with neonatologists at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC). The tool is intended for use during neonatal consults or when pediatricians are preparing to transfer a critically ill newborn to the NICU.
This development is expected to enhance the quality of neonatal care at North Country Hospital and directly benefit the facility’s youngest and most vulnerable patients.
In recent years, North Country Hospital has cultivated a close working relationship with UVMMC. It’s this strong partnership that allowed the rural hospital to be the first institution outside of UVMMC’s network to introduce the innovative NICU Telemedicine initiative.
“We are grateful to UVM for this opportunity and for providing the NICU Telemedicine cart at no charge,” a North Country Hospital spokesperson said.
This partnership is a promising step toward leveraging technology to bridge healthcare gaps, specifically in the context of neonatal care, which is critically important in rural areas such as those served by North Country Hospital.