Hub City Spokes
Forrest General Awarded $472k for Telemedicine Equipment
By Staff Reports
Forrest County General Hospital is one of four state groups who will split a $1.9 million award to support distance learning and telemedicine program in 15 Mississippi counties.
FGH’s take is $472,835, which will help the hospital purchase telemedicine equipment to expand the hospital’s service area in eight counties in South Mississippi.
The project will expand psychiatric care, intensive care assessments, and emergency care consultations to rural locations using remote video conferencing and medical diagnostic technologies.
Other states groups receiving funds are North Pike School District ($498,687), Holly Springs School District ($491,885) and the Lauderdale County School District ($478,246).
The receipt of the money was announced earlier this week by U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Representatives Gregg Harper, R-Miss., and Steven Palazzo, R-Miss. The grants will be awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development program.
“Distance learning and telemedicine technologies are a promising way to transcend traditional boundaries and make efficient use of limited resources,” Wicker said. “These targeted investments from the USDA Rural Development program will help connect students to education, job seekers to employment opportunities, and rural patients to high-quality health care for years to come.”
“The common thread in these grants is a high level of cooperation among healthcare providers, educators, cities and counties. They know that expanding distance learning and telemedicine capabilities can provide better education opportunities and medical care to the people in rural areas of our state,” Hyde-Smith said. “These USDA Rural Development grants will help move these goals forward to improve the quality of life in rural Mississippi.”