|
West End receiving UTMB ‘house calls’
By Staff Reports
Published June 26, 2006
in the Galveston Daily News
GALVESTON — The University of Texas
Medical Branch, in partnership with the city of Jamaica Beach and the
Galveston County Health District, has
created West Isle Telemed to provide weekend medical care on Galveston Island’s
West End.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the
Jamaica Beach Public Services Building, 16628 San Luis Pass Road, patients can
seek treatment for basic medical needs such as colds and flu, jellyfish stings,
minor burns, rashes, earache and any other basic medical need. A clinic visit
costs $50 — cash, check or credit card.
Assisted by a paramedic, a physician will examine the
patient remotely using a telemedicine cart equipped with medical devices and a
video screen for a face-to-face consultation.
“We needed a way to offer care and, at the same time,
bring relief to our already overburdened medical facilities and emergency
services,” said Jerry Mohn, president of the West Galveston Island Property
Owners’ Association.
During the summer, nearly 80 percent of all emergency
calls come from the West End and most occur on the weekends, Mohn said.
“But not all the calls fit the criteria to be
considered ‘real’ emergencies,” he said.For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
409-938-2211 or 409-392-0007
kkoopman@gchd.org |
