Navapache Hospital has as its long-term objective to provide biomedical resources currently not available to its Medical and Allied Health Profess. staffs. Additional objectives include: The enhancement of the quality of medical care in the rural White Mountain region of Northern Arizona. Elimination of feelings of isolation inherent in rural private medical practice approximately 189 miles distant from a metropolitan area. To achieve these goals, Navapache is requesting funds through the PHS's Information Access Grant for the purchase of computer equipment and search systems and supplies including a subscription to MEDLARS and GRATEFUL MED. The hospital will also become a member of the DOCLINE Inter Library Loan program. Navapache will utilize these resources as they are available through the Pacific Southwest Regional Medical Library Service located at the Biomedical Library Center for the Health Sciences at the University of California and affiliated libraries. To further strengthen the Navapache Medical Library facilities and functions, the hospital plans to hire a quarter of a full-time employee to serve as the librarian. The hospital will also hire a library consultant to specifically advise the librarian regarding search techniques as they apply to MEDLARS, DOCLINE and GRATEFUL MED. Navapache is requesting that a portion of the librarian's salary as well as the consultant's fees be included in the $12,000 grant request. Navapache feels that it will be able to develop a program of information retrieval that can be duplicated at other rural hospitals. It has as its ultimate goal to serve as a model for other small, rural healthcare facilities who are seeking to implement an automated information retrieval program.
