The HHS Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded $22.1 million in grants to more than 100 communities across the nation to support rural healthcare.
The HRSA Office of Rural Health Policy distributed the funds through seven grant programs. The awards include $11 million distributed by the Rural Health Network Development Program to coordinate essential services among three or more providers at the community level. The Rural Health Network Development Planning Program — which helps providers created coordinated strategies to achieve efficiencies and increase access to and quality of care — has also distributed almost $5 million in funding to rural communities.
Additionally, HRSA has awarded more than $2.3 million through the Evidence-Based Tele-Emergency Network Program to bolster remote emergency departments and determine the effectiveness of tele-emergency care in rural settings; more than $600,000 through the Telehealth Resource Centers, which help implement cost-effective telehealth programs; more than $1.5 million through the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program to create education programs and screen patients for radiogenic diseases; and more than $1 million through two programs meant to improve emergency medical services — the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Program and the Public Access to Defibrillation Demonstration Project.
A full list of grant recipients is available on HRSA's website.