Franklin Memorial Hospital in rural west central Maine is seeking NLM grant funding in order to extend and enhance Internet connectivity for itself and its Franklin Community Health Network affiliates, plus the area?s five federally qualified Health Reach Network health centers, all local physicians (in both group and solo practices), a home-health agency, and four nursing homes. The project will build upon an existing private enterprise network and developing WAN. The primary goal of this initiative is to support a quantum leap forward in Internet access for an already quickly developing community-wide health information and communications infrastructure, with Franklin Memorial Hospital at its hub. Planned project applications include online databases and medical resources, communication among professional colleagues, continuing medical education, data sharing, and physician-directed online resources for patients? informed decision-making. Support from NLM will allow increased bandwidth (to T1) of the existing 56K line to the ISP, purchase of an NT-based firewall and a modem bank, aid in offsetting a portion of the first year?s cost of an additional upgraded line, and purchase of routers and CSU/DSU?s for 3 additional WAN connections. Franklin Memorial Hospital has firmly committed the additional human and monetary resources to support the fiber-optic cabling of the immediate campus, upgrade of the hospital?s internal network equipment, installation of network equipment at affiliates and the fiber-optic campus extension, connection of two additional WAN locations, all line charges associated with WAN connections, purchase of PC and/or modem equipment for all locations that lack basic equipment, end-user training, network support, and project coordination.
