News

Raskin and Smith Pen Op-ed Calling for Increased Internet Access as a Necessity for Better Health

David Cattell-Gordon, director of Telehealth Operations at UVA Health, conducted a simulated test in July 2019. While telehealth services are expanding during the coronavirus pandemic, reliable internet access is necessary to receive care in remote settings. THE DAILY PROGRESS

In today’s edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Wilder School’s own Sarah Raskin and Shelly Smith, call for legislative action on the expansion of broadband infrastructure, leveraging data collected from the Commonwealth Connect Coalition and the 2019 County Health Rankings.

In the piece, Raskin, an assistant professor of oral health at the Wilder School and Smith, an alumnus of the CPP’s Translational Research Fellowship program and the director of the doctor of nursing practice program at VCU, argue that rural and low-income Virginians are at a considerable disadvantage for broadband connectivity and telehealth access, a fact exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19. Read the op-ed.