Chairman Pai visits with Utah veteran program to talk telehealth

Alethea Varra is the director of National Tele-Mental Health Hub continental region who said “our providers are giving this care to people who would not be getting it otherwise.” It’s a network of 29 clinicians providing online care to veterans. The program needs high-speed internet to work. On Aug 23, Varra met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to talk about broadband speeds in some of the most remote areas in Utah.

Veterans like Doug Acklie teleconference in to a specialist because he lives two hours from the closest clinic. He can now have easy weekly appointments with his doctors over a computer screen. He told Chairman Pai how it’s impacted his care. “There are millions of Americans who are on the wrong side of that digital divide that includes a lot of veterans” Pai said. Chairman Pai left Utah with a better understanding on how to get internet access to rural america and how to get this program in front of more veterans struggling with depression and suicide. “If you multiply that around the country there’s just no telling how much healthier our country could be,” Pai said.