Verizon Foundation is donating money and technology from Verizon Wireless to the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation, part of KentuckyOne Health. Under the deal, the charity arm of the Big Red carrier will help create a program to assist select patients in monitoring and self-managing their health with new technologies.

Eligible to enroll in the program are seniors aged 50 and older, as well as some patients referred from a primary care provider with certain serious health concerns or those who have been treated for congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery bypass graft surgery, diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia.

The program will also provide each patient with health coaching based on his or her individual health needs.Verizon Foundation will provide Verizon’s LTE-enabled mobile devices and data connections, as well as $125,000 to purchase biometric devices such as digital weight scales, blood pressure monitors, FitBit activity trackers, CalorieKing Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter book and digital food scales/nutritional calculators. Moreover, the money will also provide some Diabetes Mellitus patients with glucose test strips.

“Programs like this provided by Saint Joseph Hospital and KentuckyOne Health allow wireless technologies to help the underserved in rural communities improve long-term health outcomes and the strongest opportunity for overall wellbeing,” said John Granby, president of Verizon Wireless for Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. “This program is a strong fit with the Verizon Foundation’s mission to use our technology to solve critical social issues.”

The program will also provide each patient with health coaching like diabetes education and nutritional counseling based on his or her individual health needs. Participants get to keep the cookbook and the digital food scale/nutritional calculator. The goal is to enroll 300 patients in the first year of the program.