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KARK Channel 4 News
By Ashlei King
February 18, 2020
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A new program at Our House has connected clients with doctors through telemedicine. Landry Harris used to live at the homeless facility, but has now moved out on her own. She was one of the many Our House clients who utilized the facility’s weekly Telehealth Clinic, which started in the fall.
“It’s great. They set me up with my mammogram and gave me medicine for my colon, my blood pressure medicines,” Harris said.
Each week, ARcare sets up its clinic at Our House. A nurse takes patient’s vitals and a nurse practitioner on the other end of the computer screen can hear the patient’s heartbeat and even see inside the patient’s ears, nose and throat.
“We can listen to their heart and lungs and their abdomen. We can see their ears, nose and throat. It’s a wonderful little device especially when you can see some folks in very rough, remote places,” Nurse Practitioner Ashley Bagwell said.
Bagwell is based more than 70 miles away in Augusta, but she’s able to treat Harris through the power of a camera on a computer.
“It’s a great little tool. I love it, absolutely love it,” Bagwell said.
This tool was one that Our House Executive Director Ben Goodwin and his team believed was crucial to treating Central Arkansas’s homeless epidemic.
“Many of our clients are experiencing health issues and also barriers to accessing health care and a lot of our work with case management is helping people overcome those barriers,” Goodwin said.
“It works great. It worked good for me,” Harris said.
