Former President Jimmy Carter hosted representatives of Mercer University School of Medicine and Global Partnership for Telehealth in his hometown of Plains, Georgia last Thursday. The two entities met with former President Carter and his wife Rosalynn to discuss plans to bring a medical clinic to the city.

MUSM and Global Partnership for Telehealth, a South Georgia-based telemedicine networking agency, will partner to bring the clinic to fruition. MUSM will provide administrative and medical staffing services while GPT will provide the technology and infrastructure necessary to deliver specialty care from providers all around the state via telemedicine.

“By teaming with Mercer University School of Medicine, we will be able to deliver the best care possible,” said Jerad Johnson, CTO of Global Partnership for Telehealth.

The meeting between MUSM, GPT, and the Carters lasted about an hour and culminated in Johnson demonstrating the capabilities of telemedicine technology to facilitate a medical examination at a distance. Johnson set up a mock-telemedicine examination with Les Evans, Senior Account Manager at GPT. During the examination, Evans and Johnson exchanged images via a medical exam scope, and Evans used a tele-auscultation platform to send a live stream of his heartbeat to Johnson and the Carters.

According to Johnson, the former President and Rosalynn Carter were pleased with the demonstration and expressed their excitement for the coming project. “It was honor to meet President Carter and spend time showing him what is possible using telehealth technology,” Johnson said.