Avel eCare lands $1.36M state grant to put more telehealth in South Dakota ambulances
What's the deal? Avel eCareDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has received a $1,360,983 Rural Health Transformation Program grant from the South Dakota Department of Health to expand virtual EMS technology through the state's Telemedicine in Motion program.
What's the endgame? The money is earmarked for Generation 2 telehealth hardware, licensing, connectivity, warranties, and installation in participating ambulances. Through the system, local crews connect with emergency physicians, nurses, and paramedics over two-way audio and video while treating patients in transit.
By the numbers: Telemedicine in Motion has logged nearly 2,500 patient encounters, each lasting a median of 22 minutes, for a median patient age of 60 across rural and remote areas. Virtual clinicians assist with documentation, EKG review, care coordination, aircraft dispatch, and routing patients to the right destination.
Why now? The grant is a slice of South Dakota's broader rural health push: the state has announced $7.2 million for 25 EMS projects, part of a five-year federal program totalling about $189 million. It is funded entirely through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
"We can ride with them from a virtual aspect and provide that reassurance, second opinion and second set of eyes," said Becky VandeKieft, vice president and general manager for emergency and EMS services at Avel eCare.
What could go wrong? Final scope, budget, deliverables, and timing remain subject to a completed agreement and written authorisation to proceed. The award's payoff depends on whether the upgrades improve access to timely clinical guidance and patient outcomes.
The signal: At $1.36 million, this is a modest, targeted technology expansion rather than a conventional funding round — but it ranks in roughly the 32nd percentile by size among comparable awards. Founded in 1993 as the first US virtual health system, Avel eCare is building on deployments that already span Nebraska and Minnesota, where federal grants of $9.9 million and $5 million backed similar ambulance programs. The move reflects growing state and federal appetite for telemedicine as a way to stretch thin rural emergency crews.
Read more: Business Insider
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
