For 100 years, islands in the Gulf of Maine and those who live on them have benefited from the Maine Sea Coast Missionary Society’s efforts. This 100-year-old organization’s newest venture — its vessel Sunbeam now offers telemedicine services to distant island communities — combines cutting-edge technology with old-fashioned neighborly concern. Islesboro resident Sharon Daley, the program’s newly-appointed RN, will be braving winter seas and unpredictable weather to bring compassionate, hands-on medical services to remote island residents.
The Maine Sea Coast Missionary Society, an inter-denominational, non-profit organization, was founded to provide spiritual enrichment to remote Maine communities. This usually takes the form of practical support, from helping set up recycling centers in northern Maine to offering cooking classes aboard ship, from playing Santa Claus to thousands of children to breaking up ice in a locked-in harbor. Their ship, Sunbeam, has always been a crucial (and very visible) component of the Mission’s programs, bringing supplies, spiritual guidance and fellowship to people who live in isolated island communities.
The present Sunbeam (number five) is a 75 foot long, all-steel vessel built in 1995 to the specifications of 30-year captain David Allen. The wheelhouse sits high above the water, offering occupants a 360-degree view. It is equipped with radar, Loran, GPS, a fathometer, and now houses, in one of its cabins, a telemedicine center — a natural outgrowth of the Mission’s commitment to keep up with newly-developed tools that can benefit their constituency.
Annie Schwartz, Director of Development at the Mission, describes telemedicine as “a high-tech solution to the problem of access to health care, allowing ‘virtual’ patient visits with a distant medical provider.” Many islanders don’t see their physicians as often as they should, especially for follow-up visits, because of the time and expense of getting to the mainland. Now, with Sunbeam’s telemedicine services, these islanders don’t have to hop on a lobster boat, or jump in a plane, to get to the doctor’s office — they can just meander down to the dock and board the Sunbeam. There is no extra charge for Sunbeam’s services; the visit is billed as a regular doctor’s office visit, and is accepted as such by insurance companies.
Sunbeam has been outfitted with an interactive TV unit, connected to the mainland by high-speed ISDN phone lines, which allow patients to carry on live conversations with their doctor or medical specialist. According to the Mission’s Executive Director, Rev. Gary DeLong, this program was conceived after the regional Medical Center at Lubec approached the Mission for help because the populations on tiny, remote islands were too small to qualify as recipients of Federal telemedicine funds, despite the obvious need for accessible health care. It took the better part of a year to set up the infrastructure for the three-year telemedicine pilot program, which will be partially funded by state grants for telemedicine services. Costs are expected to exceed $95, 000 annually to operate the Telemedicine unit. The Mission Society has raised over $210,000 to date and is working to raise the additional $110,000 needed to pay for salaries, medical supplies, fuel and communications costs.
Setting up telephone lines and other equipment was just one aspect of starting this venture. An equally important part of the process was finding the right person to provide patients with personal, competent care. Sharon Daley, RN, the Mission’s new nurse aboard the Sunbeam and an Islesboro resident for twelve years, has worked in the health care industry for 30 years. Her wide range of medical experience includes serving as a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, caring for burn patients in a hyperbaric chamber unit, working with children at Boston’s Children Hospital, and most recently as an Islesboro home health care and hospice provider for Knox and Waldo counties through the Kno-Wal-Lin agency. A graduate of Barne’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, Daley also has logged many hours cruising the chilly waters of Penobscot Bay aboard Islesboro’s water taxi Quicksilver, which she and her husband, Tom, own.
Mission Director DeLong feels fortunate to have Daley on board, both because she’s an islander as well as for her extensive experience of hands-on health care. Daley is glad to be part of a nurturing outreach program that allows her to use her nursing skills to benefit other island communities. Daley is under the supervision of Dr. Charles B. Alexander, an internist dividing his time between clinical practice and serving as Medical Director of the 54-bed Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth. To Alexander, getting a qualified, caring nurse like Daley on the islands is more important then all the high-tech equipment because nothing, in his opinion, can replace the human touch. Daley sees herself in a supportive role, with telemedicine increasing access to good medical care, not replacing it.
Islands currently targeted for telemedicine services include Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, Matinicus and Swan’s Island, with more islands to be added to the roster as resources permit. The Sunbeam plans to visit each island twice a month, depending on tide and weather. Patients can make appointments by calling their regular doctor’s office, or can stop by the Sunbeam during a designated “walk-in” time.
The Sunbeam’s maiden voyage with the new equipment aboard was by all accounts a success — smooth sailing and good fun having Daley aboard, according to captain Allen. The four-person crew visited Frenchboro, Swan’s Island and Matinicus. Mission Director DeLong overheard a Swan’s Island couple raving about the wonderful health care they received on the Sunbeam, and Daley believes patients felt at ease with the new equipment, rather than intimidated by it, largely because of the respect and trust island residents feel for the Missionary Society. She also feels that the Sunbeam’s atmosphere had something to do with it — having a good cup of coffee and a tasty chocolate chip cookie in the ship’s cabin before a doctor’s visit goes a long way towards putting patients at ease.
Future plans for use of the telemedicine equipment include EMT training, AA meetings, and connecting at-risk children with the Department of Human Services. But for the moment the focus is on working out schedules and setting up a routine to offer some consistency for islanders, despite the weather and tide.
As an integral part of Islesboro’s community, Daley embarked on this new venture with an interest in seeing how other island communities differed from her own. Instead of noticing how different they were, though, she was reminded time and again of how all island communities band together in times of need. If someone is sick, a neighbor is there to offer a ride across choppy waters in a lobster boat, or to offer a helping hand in the middle of the night. This is the age-old tradition the Missionary Society hopes to carry forward with the new state-of-the-art telemedicine equipment with which Sunbeam is now outfitted — and with RN Daley on hand to provide that vital human touch.