By Doug Duskin, Chief Executive Officer, Avel eCare
Avel eCare experienced a watershed year in 2021. Following nearly two years of pivoting to help address the COVID crisis, including being one of only a select few organizations selected to provide care as part of the federal government’s National Tele-critical Care Network (NETCCN), Avel closed out the year with a transition in ownership to Aquiline Capital Partners on November 1st. This move, which had been in the works for the past year, was a strategic acknowledgement of Avel’s growth potential and represents a significant investment in Avel’s ability to expand the highest quality telemedicine care across the nation.
And, during this period of growth for Avel, we have seen the COVID-19 surges continue to place an immense strain on our health care system. We have been called in to virtually assist overloaded emergency rooms and intensive care units. Our intensivists have worked with rural facilities to monitor critical patients and alert care teams to changes in conditions. Our Respiratory Therapists have provided crucial support, working with local clinicians to ensure patients receive life-saving care.
Ultimately, no matter the situation, Avel eCare and our team of highly-trained telemedicine experts stand ready to assist our customers and meet their needs with creativity, poise, and a positive attitude. Bottom line, we are here to help.
As our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Brian Skow, recently stated in a letter to our customers, “we understand the challenges many rural and underserved hospitals face, and our whole model is based on augmenting local clinicians with the highest quality telemedicine care possible.” And, it’s not like this model was established yesterday. Avel has been perfecting its craft since 1993, which reinforces our ability to meet customer needs and work collaborative to find solutions across all service lines, from Emergency and Hospitalist to ICU and Behavioral Health.
As we move forward into the new year, Avel will continue its work helping customers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the organization has its sights set on a few important goals, including expanding our provider network, harnessing new technologies to improve care delivery, and finding opportunities to reach more clinicians and serve even more patients and communities. We have seen just how impactful telemedicine has been during the pandemic and Avel has never been better positioned to continue leading this transformation in care delivery and outcomes; what we call, “Healthcare Reimagined.”