USDA telemedicine grants extend to six states

11/22/2011

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced funding through the USDA's Rural Development Program to establish telemedicine and other healthcare projects Delta region states.

According to Becker's Hospital Review, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi and Louisiana will all benefit from the Rural Development's Delta Healthcare Services Grant Program. The grants, awarded under the 2008 Farm Bill, will be used to serve communities with no more than 50,000 residents.

"Today's funding can help improve the health of rural residents who live in the south central portion of the country," Vilsack said. "These projects can provide care to patients currently receiving no care at all and hopefully reduce the incidence of stroke, mental illness, and other health disorders in rural regions."

In total, 10 healthcare projects in six states will be funded, with hopes that they will deliver health services underserved areas.

The largest grant - $3 million - went toward building a new urgent care center in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, while an additional $700,000 will go toward the creation of an intensive-care unit system for five hospitals within the state's poorest rural counties, notes the Associated Press.

The Taborian Urgent Care in Mound Bayou is being built primarily because the town is nine miles from the nearest hospital and 80 miles from the closest UCC.

USDA loans will also fund three projects in Louisiana, the biggest a nearly $365,000 initiative to link five rural nursing homes with the largest number of Medicaid patients. Funds will go toward video technology that allows specialists to examine patients via video for consultations involving heart, lung, kidney, cancer and wound care.

In addition $62,800 will be extended to the Franklin Parish Hospital Service District No. 1, which is experiencing staff shortages and patient influx. With the funds, mental health patients will be able to receive more thorough psychiatric assessments, counseling, follow ups, outpatient visits and medication recommendations via video conference technology.

Just over $270,000 will be granted to New Orleans-based Ochsner Clinic Foundation for a telemedicine program aimed at improving stroke care. Eight healthcare facilities in Central Louisiana will be connected, as they reside in a region where patients are at higher risk of stroke.

In Alabama, nearly $385,000 in Rural Development funds will finance a "Healthcare on Wheels," program, serving a portion of the state that currently has no healthcare provider offices, no Federally Qualified Health Care Clinics, no hospitals and no emergency medical service. The Mobile Health Van Program will bring a medical van to these areas equipped with healthcare and clinic services capabilities.

Education is at the forefront of USDA loans in Arkansas, as Arkansas State University at Mountain Home will receive nearly $385,000 to finance improved education and training for respiratory therapy students. Also, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will obtain $162,000 to set up internet-ready computer labs at nursing homes aimed at assisting students in nursing programs.

Kentucky-based Murray State University will get just over $230,000 for the West Kentucky TeleCare Project, which will bring telemedcine to eight western Kentucky hospitals. They will be linked to the Kentucky Telehealth Network,"which focuses on providing clinical, educational and administrative support for healthcare in rural Kentucky." Training will also be made available to hospital staff and medical students.

Lastly, the Southern Illinois Delta Regional Simulation and Learning Lab Project will get nearly $520,000 for distance learning equipment at four local colleges and two high schools.