Client News
ELLETTSVILLE and MARTINSVILLE – A joint high-speed project that has attracted national industry attention took its first steps toward providing fiber service for up to 3,40o residents in Monroe and Owen Counties on April 12. High-speed customers for both companies came online as part of a unique fiber project directed by Smithville Communications, a top 100 national broadband company, and SCI REMC, Indiana’s largest rural electric cooperative.
“It is always good news when we can announce the availability of high-speed fiber in a rural area of Indiana, but this milestone is great news in that it represents the first fiber service jointly developed by a unique partnership between Smithville and SCI REMC,” said Cullen McCarty, Executive Vice President of Smithville Communications. “Since both organizations serve customers in essentially the same geographic area, this represents an excellent opportunity to work together to accelerate fiber availability to the customers we jointly serve.”
“Smithville and SCI REMC are setting a new bar of high standards for remarkable innovation in providing critical fiber service to Hoosiers in rural areas of Indiana,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who oversees Indiana’s Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program and the state Office of Broadband Opportunities. “Governor Eric Holcomb and I applaud both companies for finding a way to jointly accelerate the construction of fiber services in regions where high-speed internet is often not readily available.”
According to James Tanneberger, president and CEO of SCI REMC, when the new fiber network is built and active, residential and business customers will be able to choose service from either Smithville or SCI REMC. As noted, both companies will independently market services to customers within the project area.
“This unique partnership benefits all parties,” said Tanneberger. “By working with Smithville, SCI REMC can ensure that businesses and residents in our joint service areas can have access to world-class high-speed internet in the most expeditious, fiscally responsible way possible, and at the same time meet our electric smart grid needs.”
National COIN innovation group tasked with “sharing ideas and developing innovative strategies and communication approaches” to reduce health and racial inequities in delivery of healthcare services, especially to women of childbearing age.
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana – Conceiving, carrying and safely delivering healthy babies serves as a critical objective for any region, but is of particular importance in rural areas where inequities in healthcare access may prove challenging.
Reducing racial and societal inequities in healthcare delivery, especially the “very different dynamics” of social determinants affecting healthy pregnancies, represents a key focus for Joanah Wischmeier, BSN, RN. Wischmeier, a Project Director at the Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA), was recently named to the inaugural national Healthy Start COIN (Collaborating Innovation Network), according to Cara Veale, DHS, OTR, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer of IRHA. (A COIN is defined as a team of self-motivated people with a collective vision, enabled by the web to collaborate in achieving a common goal by sharing ideas, information and work.)
PAOLI, Indiana – Patients with high blood pressure (hypertension) served by Southern Indiana Community Health Care (SICHC) clinics will soon be able to receive a free digital blood pressure cuff monitor, according to Yolanda Yoder, MD, SICHC Medical Director. SICHC secured a $159,000 grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to initiate the four-county program.
The grant funds will be used to purchase and distribute the specialty blood pressure cuffs, which can securely transmit health care data through a cellular enabled device, and to purchase the healthcare software required to receive, process and secure the confidential data. The data will help SICHC medical professionals treat high blood pressure remotely.
Eligible SICHC patients receiving treatment for both “controlled” hypertension (blood pressure maintained at 120/80) and “uncontrolled” high blood pressure (blood pressure typically appearing at 140/90 or above) will receive the free digital units.
MONTGOMERY, Indiana – Can high-speed broadband fiber connectivity be achieved through most of Daviess County within a few years? The Daviess County Economic Development Corporation is now pursuing the creation of a countywide Infrastructure Development Zone to support a potential $20 million fiber construction project by RTC Communications, according to Bryant Niehoff, Executive Director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC).
“In the digital age, access to high-speed fiber connectivity is a ‘must-have’ when competing for investment and talent, and the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need to focus on broadband accessibility at a county-wide scale,” explained Niehoff. “By designating all of Daviess County as an Infrastructure Development Zone, our community leaders and elected officials are taking a major step in addressing the broadband accessibility challenges that face us today.”
ELLETTSVILLE and BLOOMFIELD (Indiana) – Smithville, Indiana’s largest privately-held telecom, and the Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC (UDWI) announced a unique limited partnership that is expected to accelerate high-speed fiber construction in a cost-effective manner. The partnership is expected to mutually benefit customers and communities in their overlapping service areas, according to Darby A. McCarty, Chairman and CEO of Smithville, and Doug Childs, UDWI CEO.
The two companies will first leverage this new partnership to bring high-speed fiber-optic connectivity to more than 800 homes in the rural area east of Stanford in Monroe County. The two-year project will begin its initial phase in early 2021 and focus on building residential fiber connectivity to about 280 homes. Additional areas of the project are expected to start construction later in 2021. The companies set a schedule that forecasts the completion of the full project of more than 800 homes by the end of 2022.
“Smithville currently has fiber and legacy service customers in Greene and Monroe Counties and other areas served by UDWI, so combining strategic resources in a limited partnership will bring benefits to present and future customers and communities served by both,” said Ms. McCarty. “Many of these areas have high construction costs, so this partnership will help lower costs and accelerate fiber access without impacting either of our customer bases.”
INDIANAPOLIS – Healthcare and government administrators presently planning for large- and small-scale COVID-19 vaccine administration now have an additional proven asset to deploy. Leveraging its extensive custom structure design and construction experience for clients like Baxter Healthcare, Caris Life Sciences, Healthcare Logistics and others, Hamilton Exhibits launched a new line of scalable structures and safety solutions for vaccine administration and pharmacy support (see https://bit.ly/HamiltonSupportAndSafety for details).
“We conducted broad outreach to state and local government officials, as well as hospital CEOs and those engaged in planning and distribution of the new COVID-19 vaccines,” said Dan Cantor CEO of Hamilton Exhibits. “As a result, our new Support and Safety Solutions Group is prepared to positively address vaccine administration issues and planning on a variety of levels.”
WASHINGTON (Indiana) – “A great day for True Rx and the city of Washington” is how executives of True Rx Health Strategists described the formal launch of construction for their new 15,000 sq. ft. facility here on Dec 4. True Rx, a national pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company, also unveiled its new corporate brand, which will be featured on the new $1.8 million facility on the east side of Washington near I-69, said Mark Williams, CEO. The new facility will help the company, which serves patients and employers in all 50 states, reach a goal of 90 new jobs by 2023.
“I join Gov. Eric Holcomb and our great team at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in congratulating Mark and CC Williams and the entire True Rx team in creating this important opportunity for the people of Washington, Daviess County and the state of Indiana,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who took part in the Dec. 4 True Rx event. “We look forward to future success for this innovative Indiana-based national company.”
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana – New COVID-19 cases in rural and small city areas of Indiana now generally outpace urban areas, with rural hospitals nearing capacity, according to reports of Hoosier rural hospital CEOs. “COVID-19 hit hard in rural areas this fall and is straining our rural hospitals and acute care facilities,” said Cara Veale, chief executive officer of the Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA). “This represents an alarming trend and our Hoosier residents in rural towns need to quickly step up personal prevention and safety efforts.”
As of Nov. 24, the Indiana State Department of Health reported 306,538 confirmed cases of COVID-19, adding an additional 5,702 cases to the state’s total. The agency also reported 103 new COVID-19 deaths, raising the mortality level to 5,169.
The national Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) warns that COVID-19 cases and death rates in rural areas of the United States have outstripped urban areas since the late summer. “As the Indiana State Department of Health has documented, the case numbers in rural areas are going in the wrong direction,” said Veale. “They’re soaring above new cases in urban areas, and hospital administrators tell me and the IRHA staff that rural hospitals and clinics reflect that worrisome fact on a statewide basis.”