Star, six others in $500,000 initiative with UNC Children's Hospital

Alan Wooten, Bladen Journal, Elizabethtown, N.C.
·2 min read

Feb. 14—CLINTON — Star Communications is part of a 10-year, half-million dollar committment supporting rural children's health programs.

CarolinaLink, of which Star is a part of, is a broadband cooperative coalition that has made the gift of $500,000 to UNC Children's Hospital. By doing so, UNC Children's is assisted in development of "a telemedicine program that will connect children in rural areas across North Carolina with specialty providers at UNC Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill," a release says.

"We believe this new telehealth program can be instrumental to providing families living in rural communities across our state access to world-class health services," said Jeff Nethercutt, the executive vice president of Star. "Our focus has always been on serving rural areas, and this new initiative shares that same outlook."

Star is a nonprofit cooperative which is owned and operated by its members, with headquarters in Clinton. It serves Bladen, Sampson, Cumberland, Duplin and Columbus counties.

Partnerships with other health systems and pediatric offices have been formed by UNC Children's Hospital. The goal is to help areas where travel to Chapel Hill may be of extra burden.

"By partnering with rural pediatric clinics, we'll be able to bring specialty care closer to home for these children and their families,"said Dr. Michael Steiner, the chief pediatrician at UNC Children's Hospital. "We are grateful for the commitment and support from CarolinaLink and we are excited to launch this new telehealth program."

Along with Star, other members of the CarolinaLink coalition are ATMC, Randolph Communications, RiverStreet Networks, Skyline/Skybest, Surry Communications and Yadtel. ATMC is an acronym for Atlantic Telephone Membership Corp., headquartered in Shallotte.

Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com. Twitter: @alanwooten19.