Case Study: Southern Illinois Healthcare achieves rapid stroke treatment and improved ED psychiatric access with Amwell

How Southern Illinois Healthcare Used Telemedicine to Transform Care in the Emergency Department

Southern Illinois Healthcare, a not‑for‑profit system serving 16 counties, faced a severe rural care gap—only one psychiatrist for 1.5 million patients—leading to long ED wait times, patients leaving without care, undiagnosed mental illness and high readmission rates. SIH also aimed to improve stroke response times. To address these challenges they partnered with Amwell, deploying the Amwell 300 Telemedicine Cart and Horus Scope to stand up telepsychiatry and telestroke services.

Using Amwell’s telemedicine solution, SIH implemented round‑the‑clock telehealth with a full‑time coordinator and two telemedicine medical directors, enabling one neurologist to cover three hospitals and real‑time specialist consults in the ED. The Amwell program cut psychiatric ED discharge to 2 hours, reduced patients leaving without care by 50%, shortened neurology length of stay to 2.5 days, and achieved a 19‑minute door‑to‑needle TPA time; the success has supported expansion into maternal‑fetal medicine and CHF and earned a USDA grant to add seven sites.

Southern Illinois Healthcare

Catherine Hungate

Telemed Coordinator