Telehealth Booms In W.Va. And A Glimpse Into The Sport Of Falconry

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear an excerpt from a recent episode of Us & Them that explores how the coronavirus pandemic exploded telehealth use in the state. Also, in this show, we hear about the sport of Falconry.

Before the pandemic, medical telehealth appointments were used some, here and there. But the coronavirus has driven more routine medical appointments online, accelerating a trend toward telemedicine that has already been underway.

WVU Medicine, one of the largest health providers in the state, saw about 15,000 telehealth visits a year. At the start of the crisis, WVU Medicine invested about $2 million dollars to ensure every physician across their entire system was equipped with the computers and network technology to make telehealth work.

In a recent episode of WVPB’s program Us & Them, host Trey Kay spoke with WVU Medicine’s chief financial officer Doug Coffman about how the pandemic exploded telehealth use to levels that would have otherwise taken years to achieve.

The sport of Falconry is the oldest form of hunting, dating back to 5,000 B.C. in Mongolia. Some historians say people may have been bonding and partnering with birds of prey even longer than that. But not just anybody can become a falconer. You must take a test, which includes making sure you know how to care for a bird of prey. And you must apprentice with a master falconer for several years. In West Virginia, there are 31 people with falconry licenses. Roxy Todd spoke with one of them, 20-year-old Colin Waybright, who lives in Randolph County.  

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