Skip Nav
PCH CEO Receives Pioneer Award

PCH CEO Receives Pioneer Award

July 16th, 2019

On May 14, 2019, the fifth annual Telemedicine Pioneer Award was presented to Trina J. Casner, CPA, MBA, FACHE, President and CEO, Pana Community Hospital. The award was presented at the annual member meeting of the Illinois Telehealth Network (ITN), held in Springfield, and was presented by Dr. Gurpreet Mander, ITN executive director.

 

Dr. Mander commented, “This Award recognizes pioneering and visionary leadership on the ITN governance committee, and service as board chair, that was critical to successfully launching the new Illinois nonprofit to help health care providers explore and pilot telemedicine.”  Dr. Mander added, “Telemedicine helps to increase patient access to care, particularly in rural and underserved shortage areas, and the network members, staff and board so appreciate Trina’s passion and leadership.”

 

Trina commented, “I am very honored to have received this award and appreciate the opportunity to work with the talented individuals at the ITN to advance the appropriate use of telemedicine in rural areas of the state.” 

 

Pana Community Hospital is a charter member of the ITN which has 27 members and serves as a learning community and incubator of more than 33 telemedicine services and sites so far. These sites have provided more than 13,600 patient and provider encounters. Pana Community Hospital has an emergency room that is a part of a 15-member tele-stroke network that has recently provided care to 3,000 patients.

 

The collaborative network has secured more than four million dollars in grant support over the past several years.

 

The ITN was launched in 2014 with a federal grant and a Hospital Sisters of St. Francis Foundation grant to advance telemedicine in rural Illinois communities.  Today, ITN is dedicated to the mission of promoting its members’ capacity to improve access to health care in rural, underserved, and disadvantaged communities, through the application of telehealth and telemedicine solutions. 

 

Photo Caption:

Dr. Gurpreet Mander, ITN Executive Director and David Mortimer ITN Sustainability & Development Director present Trina Casner, President and CEO of Pana Community Hospital, with the Telemedicine Pioneer Award.