“At the Health Resources and Services Administration, CIO Adriane Burton was confident that her organization was prepared for telework. Network infrastructure upgrades had gotten the staff through minor weather emergencies in the past.”
“HRSA, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, had upgraded the network infrastructure at its headquarters in Rockville, Md., in 2015, increasing its backbone capacity, implementing VoIP and adding VPN concentrators and Wi-Fi capability throughout the building.”
“’Those improvements allowed us to become a lot more mobile,’ says Burton, whose agency funds health centers that provide care to historically underserved and medically vulnerable populations…”
HSRA Ensures Users Can Telework to Support Mission
“HRSA did have to pull together some quick measures to support its staff’s connectivity remotely — every employee began working from home March 16…”
“Less than two weeks later, the agency faced its first major operational test. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act allotted $1.5 billion to support health centers with coronavirus-related initiatives, and HRSA distributed the money…”
“Another agency devoting significant resources to ensuring seamless connectivity across its sprawling operations is the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA maintains about 140,000 wireless access points in its more than 1,300 healthcare facilities and regional benefits offices and constantly adds to that number…” Read the full article here.
Source: Agencies Upgrade Connectivity as Their Networks Expand – By Chris Hayhurst, July 23, 2020. FedTech Magazine.
