1996 Grant Award:
$349,200
Columbia, South Carolina
Contact Person: Stanley Fowler
Phone
Number: 803-733-3331
FAX: 803-733-1543
The University of South Carolina is a publicly
supported, co-educational institution serving South Carolina through a statewide
university system within the Columbia campus as its center, and additional
two-year and four year campuses located throughout the state. The University
has 17 academic units; the newest, the School of Medicine, admitted its first
students in 1977. The School of Medicine is a community-based medical school
and does not operate its own hospital. The RUS grant award will create a
telemedicine network in the Williamsburg/Lake City Enterprise Zone that will
provide both access to health care services for the communities and serve for
medical training purposes as part of the University of South Carolina's efforts
to bring physicians to medically underserved rural communities. The proposed
telemedicine project will be carried out in partnership with two hospital
systems: Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, SC, and Carolinas Hospital
System in Florence, SC. A telecommunications network will be established to
allow live, two-way interactive video between the hospitals. Education links
will be established between the hospitals where many clinical conferences would
be held. This telemedicine network will provide residents of the
Williamsburg/Lake City Enterprise Zone with access to the best care the medical
profession has to offer in South Carolina.