VALDOSTA — The quality of rural healthcare was the topic of Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine’s presentation to the North Valdosta Rotary Club Tuesday.

Oxendine said, “The quality of healthcare depends on where you live in this state. There are places you don’t want to be in a car accident. There are places you don’t want to be when you have a stroke. There is a large disparity between the healthcare you receive in some areas over others.”

Speaking to more than 100 club members and invited guests at a luncheon at the Valdosta Country Club, the commissioner said the state has implemented a $100 million low cost loan program to assist rural areas in improving the healthcare in their communities.

Oxendine also discussed a new program that would enable specialists to practice in rural areas via telemedicine. “They can move to every community, not physically, but by using technology.”

Two facilities, in Cordele and Bainbridge, opened this month and four additional sites will be opening every month. “We will soon have the largest telemedicine network in the U.S. California has the largest now, and they’re eight times larger than we are.”

According to Oxendine, the two main issues that a company looks at when deciding to locate in a community are education and the quality of healthcare.

Oxendine has served as the state’s Insurance Commissioner and Fire Safety Commissioner since 1994.