Stories | TeleHealth Access

TELEHEALTH ACCESS FOR SENIORS

OUR STORIES

TeleHealth Access for Seniors began in March 2020 and has expanded to a national non-profit in just weeks, delivering digital access to thousands of patients in need. Every device provided to a patient allows them to tell their story and connect with their physicians, friends, and family. Scroll through our gallery to get to know the stories of just a few of those we have helped.

OUR STORIES

We donated 30 devices to the Philadelphia VA, where patients will be able to bring them home for TeleHealth usage.

A quote from the Chief of Voluntary Service at PA VA: "We just received our devices yesterday. Loving these connections!"

We donated several devices to the Dallas Heart & Vascular Consultants. These devices will help high-risk patients engage with their cardiologists and family.

A quote from a volunteer: "I volunteer because older patients are often neglected, but their health is important!"

Our team donated 80 devices to the West Haven Veterans Hospital.

A quote from Shannon Stone, Voluntary Services, at West Haven Veterans Hospital about why what we do is important: "It's so important to pull together now more than ever, during this global pandemic, to help and lift one another up, even if it is; one person at a time, one device at a time or just one act of kindness at a time. Doing what I do also gets me connected with outside groups, organizations and other people that I can keep as a resource for when someone has a need. I am then able to put them in contact with the group or make the connection on their behalf and have their need fulfilled.
It's People helping people in a compassionate and empathetic way. I am also Veteran and choose to work at the VA because it allows me to continue to serve side by side with my military brothers and sisters. We leave no one behind and take care of each other."

In total, we have delivered 353 devices to The White River Junction VA Medical Center. The White River Junction VA Medical Center provides serves veterans across the entire State of Vermont.

We donated 10 iPads to the Yale Pediatrics Diabetes Research Center to provide low-income patients in need. Dr. Cengiz and her staff were grateful for the donations!

A quote from the practice: "Thank you for implementing and conducting this much needed project during the COVID-19 crisis."

We donated 10 devices to Pulmonary Practice Associates in Lake Mary, FL! These devices will help high-risk elderly patients engage with their physicians.

A quote from a physician: "Thank you for your continued efforts to make positive change in our world. You are absolutely amazing."

We donated devices to Dr. Desai at Florida Kidney and Hypertension Specialists to provide high-risk patients in need of help for their chronic kidney diseases.

A quote from a physician: "From an ED doc who has seen otherwise healthy people who are at risk of catching coronavirus come into the ED just because they cannot see their normal doc and don't have the technology to see their doc virtually - this is a truly important project and I am glad people are working on it."

Doctors from across the country reach out to us expressing their gratitude for our project.

A quote from a physician: "I have tremendous faith in the future of our world, knowing your generation is conceiving and then executing projects like this. I'm very proud of you all."

This is a community clinic specifically focused on serving low-income patients.

Orlando Cardiac and Vascular Specialists; that’s Dr. Mondal with the CMA’s!

We donated 40 devices to the Lake Nona VA Medical Center in Orlando! The VA has begun the transition to telehealth, and are providing these tablets and smart-phones to their veterans in need!

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We donated 12 devices to a women's shelter in DC! A quote from the shelter: “The devices that we received from Telehealth have been such a resource as we have transitioned much of our programming online in order to support social distancing at our facility. Women without suitable devices have been able to complete online coursework, connect with doctors, attend meditation classes and even participate in playing bingo! Thanks so much for seeing a need and filling it so quickly!
- Elaine Johnson, Calvary Women’s Services”

Before the drop off, only three devices were being shared among around 90 patients. Now, there are 12 total devices that the long term living patients at the VA hospital can use for appointments and talking to family.

Our Co-founder Arjun Verma recently dropped off an iPad to Oasis Dermatology in Orlando! Oasis Dermatology reached out to us requesting for an iPad so that one of their senior patients could do a FaceTime check-up with their doctor. Arjun was able to quickly fulfill their request! Great work!

Great work by our Ohio Team including Sunay Rastogi, Daniel Yan, Lauren Gillinov, Rithvik Ayyagari, and Sarisha Mahajan dropping off 30 devices to Cleveland Clinic! They have been working hard to collect device donations and funds throughout Ohio which makes drop-offs like this possible. Keep up the great work!

Volunteer Sarisha helping
by donating tablets to Alternative Paths, a community clinic in Ohio!

Our CT Team including Aakshi Agarwal, Max Golden, Evan Cheng, Siddharth Jain, and Alexandra McCraven dropped off 10 devices to the Va Visn New Haven Vet Center! This is CT's fourth partner clinic.

Today, we received this photo from Donna Russillo at the Providence VA Medical Center who just got a shipment of 20+ devices from our NY Lead and Recruitment Coordinator Abe Baker-Butler! Abe was able to quickly collect devices and fulfill the Providence VA's entire demand! Keep up the great work

Upper Chesapeake Hematology And Oncology serves many elderly patients and are expecting to take advantage of telemedicine during the winter months when roads may be closed due to snow. The clinic provides lots of support to their patients, from navigators who help patients navigate through treatment plans to the specialists and surgeons.

Our South Carolina lead Angelica Walker recently donated 8 devices to the WM Jennings Bryan Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina! Our South Carolina team has been working hard to get these veterans access to devices to connect with physicians and family.

Our San Francisco volunteers Kaveri Bhargava and Lauren Cueto donated 12 devices to the UCSF Division of Geriatrics department this week! These devices will allow seniors not only connect with their physicians, but also combat social isolation during the pandemic by connecting them to family and friends.

Our San Francisco volunteers Kaveri Bhargava and Lauren Cueto donated 12 devices to the UCSF Division of Geriatrics department this week! These devices will allow seniors not only connect with their physicians, but also combat social isolation during the pandemic by connecting them to family and friends.

Our West Virginia Lead Sarah Shabih (Emory ‘21) recently did a drop off to the Hershel "Woody" Williams VA Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia! They requested devices for three of their veterans so that they could get digital access to their physicians, family, and friends. Sarah quickly fulfilled their request.

A federally qualified health center and Atlanta’s only healthcare for the homeless program (330h), Mercy Care accepts most insurances plans, Medicare and Medicaid and offers a sliding fee scale based on household income for the uninsured. There are multiple Mercy Care clinics in the Atlanta area, and we hope to deliver devices to more of the Mercy Care clinics in Georgia.

Geriatric patients/low income community; drop off was done August 18th.

Our Washington team including state lead Grace Chen, Katie Li, Ethan Shen collected and donated 33 devices for the International Community Health Services (ICHS)! These devices will help provide digital medical care to Seattle, King County Asian, and Pacific Islander communities!

Our San Francisco volunteers Michelle Low, Michaela Vo, Adi lane, and Tiffany Wong dropped off almost 30 devices to the San Francisco VA Medical Center! These devices are directly going to homeless veterans who suffer through isolation and PTSD that is detrimental to their mental health. The devices will allow them equal access to telemedicine appointments focusing on mental health and treating PTSD. This is especially important due to the significant impact that social isolation from the pandemic has on mental health.

Our Arkansas lead Izzy Jones and Maggie Xu recently dropped off 12 devices to Mid-South Health Systems in Jonesboro, AR! They were able to fulfill the clinic's entire demand for patients in need of proper devices. Amazing work!

Our CA volunteers Shannon Larsuel and Brandon Scott recently dropped off devices to the Chinatown Service Center Community Health Center in Los Angeles! Their drop-off included comprehensive device guides developed by our amazing guide team that have been translated into multiple languages such as Chinese, Korean, Spanish, etc. as shown in the photo! They brought the Chinese translated guides for patients’ ease of use. Shannon and Brandon also received this letter commending them for their efforts in helping low-income minority communities get access to digital medical care and stay connected to family and friends during the pandemic.

Lead, Tiffany Wong, dropped off 5 devices to the Street Level Health Project, fulfilling their entire demand! The organization focuses on improving the health wellbeing of minority and immigrant communities. These devices will go to helping marginalized minority communities in Oakland get equal access to healthcare during the pandemic.

Our Vermont lead, Lia Rubel, and volunteers, Zoe Macdonald and Eliza Mabey, recently dropped off 40 devices to the White River Junction VA Medical Center (WRJ VAMC)! They have previously donated 24 devices to the VA, making their total over 60 devices donated so far! Lia has been awarded $8,000 worth of grant funding to purchase tablets in Vermont. We can expect to see a lot more device drop-offs from our Vermont team in the near future. Amazing work!

Our NY volunteers, Srishti Tyagi, Michelle Raja, and Cassidy Psihos, donated 12 devices to the Family Health Center at Long Island FQHC, Inc. They provide affordable healthcare services to low-income patients in the Long Island area. These devices will help their patients connect with their physicians from home. Great work!

Our FL volunteers, Shameer Kazi, Manish Batta, Neep Patel, Rohan Kommireddy, and Shray Mehra, donated 23 devices to the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FL! These devices will help their veterans access online medical care from home and stay out of potentially infectious waiting rooms.

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Our CA volunteer Sheng Shu donated 19 devices to the Berkley PACE Center at Center for Elders' Independence in Oakland, CA! The clinic provides healthcare and services to support seniors who are living by themselves. Its imperative that everyone, especially independent seniors, has equal access to devices that allow them to connect with physicians, friends, and family. These devices will help seniors combat social isolation and access healthcare from home. Love to see the CA team making such a big impact across the state!

Our Maine lead Jay Philbrick and volunteer Emma Raven donated 20 devices to Cary Medical Center in Caribou, Maine! They were able to fulfill their entire demand! This drop-off is especially important as Cary Medical Center is one of only four hospitals in the rural area where digital access is limited. This makes it crucial for patients to be able to readily access their doctors through these devices. Glad to see our Maine team making such a big impact on their community!

Our FL volunteer, Julee Sharma, dropped off 3 iPhones for patients at Pulmonary Practice Associates in Lake Mary, FL! These phones will go to low-income patients who suffer from chronic respiratory illnesses to help them stay connected to their physicians from home. Julee provided the iPhones with guides Updox, which is the Telehealth software used by the practice to communicate with their patients. Great work!

Our Maryland volunteers Sasvi Kulasinghe and Isuru Herath donated 8 devices to MobileMed Mobile Medical Care in DC! MobileMed focuses on providing equal healthcare opportunities to the low-income community in Maryland that face barriers to healthcare access. These devices will help them get equal access to medical care by connecting them to their physicians from home! Amazing work MD team!

Our amazing volunteers in Austin, TX have been getting creative with fundraising!
Daniel and Jason Xiong, Sidh Pandit, Hrushikesh Saranu, and Frank Lai have been doing yardwork in the Texas heat to raise money to buy devices for low-income patients. They have raised $1500 by themselves and are getting it matched with Visa to make a total of $3000. That's enough to provide 60 devices!
Thank you so much for your hard work!

Our Treasurer and Co-Lead Siddharth Jain and CT volunteer Selma Abouneameh dropped off 5 more devices to Fair Haven Community Health Care donating a total of 15 devices! Our CT team recently received grant funding of $4000 which will go directly towards purchasing 40 more devices for Fair Haven Health Center in August! WTNH News 8 filmed the drop-off at Fair Haven Health and interviewed Selma and Siddharth about their involvement! Amazing work CT team!

Our CA volunteers, Tiffany Wong and Michaela Vo, dropped off 10 devices to the UCSF Cancer Center! They donated 5 laptops and 5 tablets, fulfilling the clinic's entire demand!