Using technology to fill the gaps is being celebrated at the Guam Memorial Hospital.
Getting specialists to come to Guam isn’t easy, and doctors are no different, officials have long lamented. These folks essentially have to leave their extended families and friends behind. Christmases and other holidays would be spent away unless they’re willing and able to spend thousands of dollars and a day traveling back to the mainland.
Lillian Perez-Posadas, GMH administrator, commented on this saying that “attracting specialists to our island can be challenging.”
“Telemedicine is the leading edge of health care and we’re proud to be bringing these capabilities to our island,” she said.
Kudos to Paula Manzon, Clinical Informatics nurse supervisor, and everyone at GMH who worked with her to make this possible. Manzon is credited with pulling together an interdisciplinary team to support telemedicine.
“Ultimately, we want our patients to recover and continue to live healthy lives; we are literally going to every corner of our nation to ensure that happens,” Manzon said.
“Where physical barriers stopped us, technology saved us and I’m so proud to lead the telemedicine team that makes all of this possible.”
The hospital has hired six doctors to assist with the telemedicine program at the intensive-care unit. Their expertise and skills augment Dr. Joleen Aguon’s. She is a pulmonary and critical care physician, working 12 hour shifts at the ICU. She also serves as GMH’s COVID-19 medical director and associate administrator of Clinical Services.
Additionally, new technology, called Rounder, allows these tele-doctors to visit patients from wherever they’re at in the mainland.
GMH started with iPads that were connected to the poles that many of us civilians will recognize as being used to hang IV fluid bags. They would connect with Aguon and she’d be able to participate in discussions with the attending physician, nurse, and therapists with the patient.
There are six doctors who work in hospitals in North Carolina, Washington, Texas, and Oregon but are also taking evening and weekend hours at GMH ICU.
And unfortunately, they all have their hands full.
The staff at GMH have faced COVID-19 head on and, while we have hoped that the pandemic would begin to ebb as more people have been vaccinated, Guam, like other areas throughout the nation, has seen an uptick in new daily cases. Guam has seen more than 100 new cases in the last few days and the COVID-19 Area Risk Score has jumped to over 5.4.
It’s a situation that could make the telemedicine program even more essential.
While nothing can beat boots on the ground, this may be the only option Guam has if the hospital is again inundated with COVID-19 hospitalizations. And more help that improves the quality of care at our only public hospital is always something to be celebrated.
Gloss