Telecommunications Conference at MMcC CAMBRIDGE - On Monday, March 2nd the Mary McClellan Foundation hosted a conference for local community members to discuss the future in telecommunications. Joyce Davis, executive director of the Foundation said, "Mary McClellan Hospital is taking the lead in this area and has already been accepted into the Adirondack Area Network, a Frame relay Cloud that will bring video conferencing, telemedicine and interactive distance learning to the local area." The featured speaker was David Bonner, Ph.D., the Director of Information Technology Initiatives for the Sage Colleges and is one of the two principles who developed the Adirondack Area Network. A native of the area, he was honored in Washington, D.C. the week of February 23rd as the innovator of a network that has been selected by the Federal Government as the solution for telecommunications in rural America. Dr. Bonner explained the Network in simplistic terms and endorsed the hospital's proposed plan to submit a proposal to the Telecommunications Information Infrastructure Assistance Program through the Department of Commerce in Washington, DC. Attending the meeting were representatives from area schools, libraries, members of the Board of Directors, Medical staff, representatives from Public Health Nursing, Nursing Homes and businesses in the community. Davis said, "A telecommunications grant was submitted on March 12, 1998, accompanied by letters of support from local schools, libraries, the Dept. of Pub. Health, Albany Med. Ctr. and The Sage Colleges - the innovators and supporters of the Adirondack Area Network and from all politicians, both state and federal who represent our area."

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