PANGAEA Internet and St. Luke’s Hospital Awarded PCCF Grant

PANGAEA Internet and St. Lukes Hospital Awarded PCCF Grant
June 8, 2009– Tryon, NC
Contacts: PANGAEA Internet: Ron Walters (828-817-0863)

St. Luke’s Hospital: Kathy Woodham (828-894-2408)

PANGAEA Internet, a non-profit business of e-Polk, Inc. headquartered in Tryon NC, and St. Luke’s Hospital, a non-profit hospital located in Columbus NC, have received a grant from the Unrestricted Fund at the Polk County Community Foundation. This $10,000 grant will allow PANGAEA Internet to extend its nearby “speed of light” fiber optic network to St. Luke’s Hospital.

Ron Walters, PANGAEA Internet Executive Director commented, “We are extremely thankful to the Foundation for funding this long awaited project that will deliver to St. Luke’s the same lightning-fast internet connection being used by Polk County Government, Polk County Library, Polk County Schools, Isothermal Community College, the Town of Tryon and many businesses throughout the area.”

Alexander Bell, St. Luke’s Hospital’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, added, “Among the many benefits, this technology will allow professional staff to review mammograms and other digital images from remote workstations, will allow real-time consultations with remote facilities and physicians, and will significantly broaden our capabilities and the resultant service levels to our patients.”

Since 2003, PANGAEA Internet (www.pangaea.us) has achieved dramatic growth – expanding its fiber optic network to 120 miles spanning Polk and Rutherford Counties NC, receiving more than $2.5 million in public funding, and now serving 42 customers at nearly 100 separate locations.

St. Luke’s Hospital provides 24-hour emergency care, general medical-surgical care, intensive care, and inpatient geriatric psychiatric care. A full-service acute care facility, St. Luke’s offers lab and radiology services, wound and hyperbaric care, outpatient surgery including general, orthopaedic and ophthalmic procedures, physical, occupational and speech therapy and in home services. A private, not-for-profit community hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital provides exceptional care, close to home.