Townshend, VT, June 8, 2017 - Grace Cottage Hospital, once without cell coverage, announced the installation of technology that provides quality cell phone reception to the hospital and surrounding area. The hospital, founded, in 1949, is based in Townshend VT and serves the northern part of Windham County. 

“For too long, Grace Cottage has had the dubious distinction of being, to my knowledge, the only hospital in Vermont without any cell reception whatsoever,” said hospital CEO Roger Albee. “But today, thanks to a partnership with CoverageCo, our patients can easily communicate with families and loved ones.”

CoverageCo is a company dedicated to solving the challenge of rural cell phone coverage. They install and maintain small cell devices, called “radios,” mounted on poles or buildings that use very little energy and provide cell service in a half mile radius. Since launching a pilot project with the State of Vermont and the EDA in 2012, CoverageCo has installed 145 radios, providing 370 square miles of service where there was none before. Last year alone, CoverageCo’s radios enabled almost 1000 completed calls to 911.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Grace Cottage to solve their cell coverage challenge,” explained CoverageCo CEO Vanu Bose. “Throughout our demonstration project, we have been honored to work with innovative Vermonters ready to try new approaches, because without that, the cell coverage challenge couldn’t be solved. The leadership team at Grace Cottage exemplifies that collaborative spirit.”

Bose added, “And in this case, the irony isn’t lost to us that before today, you could be a quarter mile away from a Vermont hospital and not be able to call 911. The lack of cell coverage and 911 service in rural areas is a public safety concern that has proven difficult to solve, but we are making definitive progress.”