Nearly 20 hospitals scattered across rural Georgia will benefit from a digital network from some Augusta area technology.
The Medical College of Georgia’s Center for Digital Health is working through the Wellstar Digital Care Network to reach patients where they are and provide the right healthcare in the right place at the right time. In the early days of digital medicine, only 30% of patients were able to remain at their local hospital. Now, 70% of patients receive care close to home.
“We’ve used telemedicine and digital technologies in the past to try and reach populations, because it’s very difficult to send clinicians across the state to give people an in-person experience. It’s very expensive, it’s very hard to do, it’s not all that effective,” Dr. Matt Lyon, MD, director of MCG’s Center for Digital Health and specialist in emergency medicine, explained for ABD. “But digital means we can teleport ourselves, so to speak, to these rural communities, so that they have access to specialists and the care they wouldn’t have unless they drove long distances.”
Lyon said the digital health network started small, with three hospitals, before the pandemic, and grew from there. It spread to additional hospitals and provided everything from triage in an emergency room, to pediatrics, to obstetrics, to geriatrics.
“We added even more specialists so that they had access to infectious disease doctors, cardiologists, pulmonologists, things that they just don’t have access to,” said Lyon. Rural doctors and rural clinicians are awesome, but a lot of times they feel a lot better about keeping people in rural communities if they have that expertise to say it’s okay, you’re doing the right thing, and that’s what we provide.”
The Wellstar/MCG network addresses one of the five prosperity pillars of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s Georgia/2050 initiative. The first pillar, the subject of the Chamber Foundation’s 1Q 2025 report, targets regional prosperity and healthy communities. The goal is to strengthen local economies and ensure access to healthcare, housing, and quality of life resources.
The report identified the top challenges as talent shortages and an aging population, forcing the healthcare workforce to increase to respond to the need.
“Low reimbursement rates, increased regulation, and uncompensated care have caused many hospitals to struggle financially, and in rural communities, lower patient density amplifies these issues,” said the report, while pointing to top opportunities including, “The advancement of technology continues to drive flexible solutions to address quality care needs, and rural communities continue to lean into partnerships to bolster local providers.”
Lyon said being able to treat patients in rural communities close to home keeps them close to support networks in their family, friends, and community. However, it also pumps life into the healthcare facilities. The hospitals are no longer seen as just a place to expect care primarily for basic issues.
“They start seeing their hospital as a band-aid station, a place where you can go if you have a cut, but it’s not a place where you seek comprehensive health care,” he said. That delays health screenings and all of those things that we all take for granted when it’s nearby. So, all of the population tends to get sicker over time, but if you start showing the hospital is there for them, then people start relying on it, and then they’re seeking care quicker and better.”
Lyon said the Chamber Foundation’s report is particularly helpful to focus attention on the importance of healthcare and its impact on economic development. ABD will examine that impact in part two of this story.
The other pillars in the Georgia/2050 initiative are:
- Talent & Workforce Preparedness
- Infrastructure & Energy
- Innovation & Entrepreneurship
- Competitiveness & Economic Development
It is available online at https://www.gachamber.com/georgia-2050/
The hospitals that are part of the Wellstar/MCG network are:
- Appling Healthcare: Baxley, GA (Appling County)
- Bacon County Hospital: Alma, GA (Bacon County)
- Burke Health: Waynesboro, GA (Burke County)
- Candler County Hospital: Metter, GA
- Dodge County Hospital: Eastman, GA
- Effingham Hospital: Springfield, GA, (Effingham County)
- Emanuel Medical Center: Swainsboro, GA, (Emanuel County)
- Evans Memorial Hospital: Claxton, GA, (Evans County)
- Jefferson Hospital: Louisville, GA, (Jefferson County)
- Jenkins County Medical Center: Millen, GA
- Memorial & Manor Hospital: Bainbridge, GA, (Decatur County)
- Optim Medical Center: Sylvania, GA, (Screven County)
- Washington County Regional Medical Center: Sandersville, GA
- Wills Memorial Hospital: Washington, GA (Wilkes County)
