Greater Staples Hospital and Care Center and Lakewood Clinic, P.A., nonprofit health care facilities located in rural central Minnesota, have recently merged to form Lakewood Health System. The system also includes three satellite clinics in neighboring rural communities. As a result of the merger, strategies are being developed to operationally link the facilities to one another and to expand access to external information resources for medical staff and health care personnel. These health care facilities also serve as clinical training sites for numerous health professions students, and are seeking to improve access to on-line resources to enhance student educational experiences. Presently the hospital and clinic do not have a medical library or a librarian. The applicant is requesting NLM funding to: 1) Support staff time to plan for expanding the use of and improving the efficiency of on-line resources within the new Lakewood Health System; 2) Provide Internet access to Lakewood Clinic and satellite clinics; and 3) Provide training through the University of MN Biomedical Library for medical staff and health care personnel on accessing Internet resources, including on-line libraries and databases.
