Dec. 13, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MARSHA TAPSCOTT
(662) 377-3193
Visit www.nmhs.net for an electronic version of this release.

NMMC To Work With UTHSC Outreach Center to Provide Families
Opportunity to Communicate with Soldiers During the Holidays

TUPELO, Miss. - North Mississippi Medical Center is partnering with the Outreach Center at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center by utilizing their communications capabilities to benefit soldiers deployed to Iraq and their families during the holiday season.

Through UTHSC and NMMC's telemedicine network, family members will have the opportunity to communicate with their loved ones in the military via video communications systems. This service is being provided at no charge in conjunction with the Freedom Calls Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that has deployed state-of the art technologies to facilitate these connections.
 

Currently, Freedom Calls has installed equipment and offers these services from the United States military bases, Camp Cooke, in Al-Taji north of Baghdad, and Camp Fallujah, located in Fallujah.
 

NMMC will use its telemedicine network capabilities to make this service available in Tupelo, Iuka, Eupora, Pontotoc and West Point as well as Hamilton, Ala. In addition to NMMC's site, a number of sites throughout Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas have agreed to host soldiers and their families.
Towns and cities where these sites are located include: IN TENNESSEE -- Clinton, Columbia, Covington, Crossville, Dickson, Dover, Dyersburg, Dickson, Franklin, Gallatin, Germantown, Harriman, Jackson, Johnson City, Huntingdon, Knoxville, Manchester, Martin, Memphis, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Rossville and Union City; IN MISSISSIPPI -- Amory, Greenville, Holly Springs, Iuka, Eupora, Pontotoc, Jackson, Tupelo and West Point; IN ARKANSAS -- Forrest City; IN ALABAMA -- Hamilton.
 

Services will be provided between certain hours beginning Monday, December 13, through Thursday, December 23, and Tuesday, January 4, through Friday, January 7. To set up an appointment, consult the following web site: www.utmem.edu/outreach or call (901) 448-HEAL (4325).
 

According to Karen Fox, Ph.D., Outreach Center executive director, "This is a tremendous opportunity for the university to give back to our community. With so many individuals being overseas in the military this holiday period, we welcomed this opportunity to use our technologies to serve those who are fighting for our country."
 

"NMMC is delighted to join forces with UTHSC to provide this opportunity to area families," said Rodger Brown, NMMC vice president. "Being able to carry on a conversation with a family member stationed overseas is a tremendous opportunity. Having the opportunity during the holiday season makes it even more special. My son is a captain in the Army Reserve and did a tour of duty, so I support this 100 percent."
 

The Outreach Center was established this fall by merging several existing outreach initiatives into one service. These areas included the Mid-South Telehealth Consortium, E-health, the Center on Health Disparities and mentoring programs for high school and college students.
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