Financing in place for initiative to enhance technology in rural hospitals
Madison, Wis. – May 12, 2008 – Forward Community Investments, a statewide community development loan fund, announces the closing of a $400,000 loan to the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Information Technology Network (The Network). The loan is the final piece in a $5 million project.
“We are proud to be part of this cutting-edge partnership,” said Forward Community Investments President Salli Martyniak. “This project reflects with our mission of helping nonprofits bring projects to fruition by leveraging capital and technical know-how.”
Now that funding is secured, The Network can roll out its unified health information technology system. The system was developed to reduce costs and improve service quality for rural hospitals that can’t always afford the latest healthcare technology.
“Small rural community hospitals generally find it difficult to make large capital investments in the latest technologies,” said Louis Wenzlow, chief information officer for The Network. “By pooling resources and leveraging funding, we make it possible for the smaller critical access rural hospitals to implement electronic health record systems.”
These systems are vital as they help hospitals increase secure access to healthcare information, protect against avoidable medication errors and advance patient safety. The loan from Forward Community Investments will be used for technology upgrades.
The project has an expected completion date of January 2009. It will benefit communities throughout seven counties of the state: Vernon, Monroe, Juneau, Sauk, Richland, Grant and Lafayette.
The Network, commonly referred to as RHWC ITN, is an affiliate of the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative. It was created to make it easier for rural Wisconsin hospitals to keep up with evolving healthcare technology by providing hospitals with affordable electronic health record systems and the staff to support them.
About Forward Community Investments:
Forward Community Investments expands the financial capacity of Wisconsin nonprofits through low-cost flexible financing and technical assistance.
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