WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (D-VA) applauded $767,139 in federal funding from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to support telehealth services at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va. The funding was made possible through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to help health care providers provide telehealth services to patients at home or in mobile locations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During this health crisis, telehealth services have been instrumental in making sure Virginians can continue to receive the health care they need without having to travel,” said the Senators. “We’re pleased that these federal dollars will help support the work of our health care providers as they treat individuals in our communities.” 

These funds will go towards telemedicine carts, tablets, video monitors, a telehealth platform, remote patient monitoring equipment, and network upgrades to support clinical videoconferencing with remote patient examination tools; to help build a virtual urgent care platform; and to expand remote patient monitoring program as patients are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are discharged from the hospital. 

Sens. Warner and Kaine have been longtime advocates for increased access to health care through telehealth. The first emergency bipartisan bill to combat COVID-19 included language from Sen. Warner’s CONNECT for Health Act of 2019, a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Kaine, to reduce restrictions on the use of telehealth for public health emergency response, as well as $500 million to facilitate its implementation. Earlier this month, the Senators sent a letter to congressional leadership urging Congress to ensure that access to telehealth services that were made available during the COVID-19 pandemic be madepermanent.

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