WICKER, HYDE-SMITH ANNOUNCE $3.47 MILLION USDA GRANTS FOR TELEMEDICINE & DISTANCE LEARNING
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today welcomed the award of almost $3.5 million in telemedicine and distance learning grants to five healthcare and educational organizations in Mississippi.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program awards will support multi-county projects led by the Delta Health Center, Inc., Greenwood-Leflore Hospital, Coahoma Community College, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and the Pearl River County School District.
“Connecting more Mississippians to healthcare and educational opportunities remains a top priority, especially as our communities recover from the coronavirus pandemic. I appreciate President Trump and Secretary Sonny Perdue for their commitment to meeting these urgent needs in our state,” said Wicker, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
“I am very pleased to see Mississippi receive these distance learning and telemedicine dollars, which are part of a broader effort by Congress to close the digital divide in rural areas. These projects will mean greater access to healthcare and educational resources, both of which are key to improving opportunities for rural Mississippians,” said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
The $3,476,970 awarded to Mississippi through USDA Rural Development will support these DLT projects:
- Delta Health Center, Inc., Mound Bayou – $1,000,000 to increase access to telemedicine services throughout its service area in Bolivar, Coahoma, Sunflower, and Washington counties.
- Greenwood-Leflore Hospital, Greenwood – $996,871 to implement telehealth consultations between the hospital and five clinics serving Leflore, Carroll, Holmes, Montgomery, and Tallahatchie, including access to primary care physicians and specialists, and remote patient monitoring.
- Coahoma Community College, Clarksdale – $943,884 to support distance learning by deploying synchronous interactive video conferencing among the college and high schools in Coahoma, Bolivar, and Quitman counties.
- Pearl River County School District, Carriere – $288,692 to support a project to bring distance learning technologies to rural schools in order to expand access to content and instruction, particularly in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) areas.
- Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Wesson – $247,523 to install interactive telecommunications equipment to support STEM-focused distance learning on the three Co-Lin campuses in Copiah, Adams, and Simpson counties.
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