Funds from a legal settlement between the State of Washington and Qwest Communications have equipped, four regional Western Washington sites to present regular video conferencing, clinical training, and continuing medical education provided by the UW. Telehealth services in Spokane received a separate settlement to provide similar support to rural communities in eastern Washington.

The Western Washington sites are: Inter Island Medical Center, Friday Harbor; Jefferson General Hospital, Port Townsend; Olympic Medical Center, Port Angeles; and Harrison Hospital, Bremerton. Forks Community Hospital, Forks, Wash., is expected to be online in March.

Each site now offers UW Department of Medicine Grand Rounds via teleconference. Some specialized training, in emergency room nursing and psychiatry, also has been offered at the Western Washington sites.

The Qwest settlement funds also are helping to establish a surgical telementoring program at the Grays Harbor Community Hospital. The program uses the SOCRATES [TM] Telecollaborative System from Computer Motion, and is being tested. Using audio and two cameras, the system will connect a Grays Harbor surgeon with a surgeon some distance away. One camera will be at the Grays Harbor surgeon's eye level. The distant surgeon will operate a remote-controlled endoscopic camera.