LITTLE ROCK — The Curtis L. Lowery Telehealth Champion Award was presented to Terry Eagleton in June. The award was given by the South Central Telehealth Resource Center in recognition of Terry’s contribution to health care for citizens in Tennessee and his promotion of telehealth. The award was also announced at the fourth annual South Central Telehealth Forum held on Aug. 1-2 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Eagleton served as the Telemedicine Manager at Maury Regional and an Advisory Board member for the South Central Telehealth Resource Center. Prior to joining Maury Regional, Terry served as the Telehealth Director of the Tennessee Primary Care Association for approximately three and a half years. In this position, he managed a telehealth network designed to meet the specialty and behavioral health needs of rural and underserved Tennesseans. He passed away in July.
Wendy Ross, Assistant Director of the South Central Telehealth Resource Center, presented the award. Ross said, “Terry got behind telehealth and motivated providers to incorporate it into their practices. He was an advocate for the residents of Tennessee, and he was passionate about their access to quality health care.
The Curtis L. Lowery Telehealth Champion Award is given to an individual who has been essential to the success of a telehealth project or program; initiates and promotes the utilization and sustainability of telehealth services; and shoulders responsibility while sharing the spotlight with the team. The champion has an innovative spirit and spends years developing programs while inspiring others.
The forum, sponsored by the South Central Telehealth Resource Center (SCTRC), provided telehealth media and education for Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. The SCTRC is part of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Center for Distance Health.
The resource center functions primarily through a website, LearnTelehealth.org, which works in partnership with the UAMS Center for Distance Health’s Training Center. It focuses on telehealth education and peer interactions online. It also conducts hands-on training in its training center or on site. The project is funded by the federal Health Resource Services Administration Office for the Advancement of Telehealth through the Telehealth Resource Center grant program.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and two dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
