SVMC and D-H Partner to Provide Specialty Care for Pregnant Women with Diabetes via Telemedicine

Bennington, VT—April 17, 2019—Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) Center for Connected Care are pleased to announce the launch of specialty care for pregnant women with diabetes. The service is called teleGestationalDiabetes.

“Diabetes during pregnancy can be difficult to manage, because patients need a lot of detailed information and support,” said Malcolm Paine, MD, FACOG, chair of the Department of Obstetrics at SVMC. “We are excited to offer this level of specialized care conveniently to our patients, and we believe that this will help to achieve the best possible outcomes for our moms and their babies.”

This service uses live, two-way, secure video on large format, high-definition mobile carts to connect D-H providers with SVMC OB/GYN patients who have gestational diabetes and women who have type 2 diabetes and become pregnant.

Patients will see Emily Proulx, MSN, APRN-CDE, WHNP-BC, a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and a Certified Diabetes Educator. She specializes in the care of women with diabetes in pregnancy. Through the convenience of an initial telemedicine visit and follow-up communication, Proulx educates patients about the risks associated with diabetes during pregnancy and diabetes management throughout pregnancy and postpartum.

To access the service, OB/GYNs and midwives identify patients who would benefit and refer them for a consult with Emily Proulx. Her office at Dartmouth-Hitchcock will schedule the telehealth visit. For more information about a teleGestationalDiabetes consultation, talk to your obstetrics provider or call 603-577-4300. 

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, health care system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.

About Dartmouth-Hitchcock:
Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H), New Hampshire’s only academic health system, serves a population of 1.9 million across New England. D-H provides access to more than 1,500 primary care doctors and specialists in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. DHMC was named in 2018 as the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by US News & World Report, nationally ranked in gynecology, and recognized for high performance in 14 clinical specialties. Dartmouth-Hitchcock also includes the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of only 49 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation; the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the state’s only children’s hospital; affiliated member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, and New London, NH, and Windsor, VT, and Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and 24 Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics that provide ambulatory services across New Hampshire and Vermont. The D-H system trains nearly 400 residents and fellows annually, and performs world-class research, in partnership with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT.

Southwestern Vermont Health Care complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.