MONTGOMERY, Ala., Feb. 25, 2021 – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it is investing over $3 million to help rural Alabamians gain access to health care and educational opportunities. Rural areas are seeing higher infection and death rates related to COVID-19 due to several factors, including a much higher percentage of underlying conditions, difficulty accessing medical care, and lack of health insurance.
“The coronavirus pandemic is a national emergency that requires an historic federal response. These investments by the Biden Administration will help millions of people living in rural places access health care and education opportunities that could change and save lives,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “USDA is helping rural America build back better using technology as a cornerstone to create more equitable communities. With health care and education increasingly moving to online platforms, the time is now to make historic investments in rural America to improve quality of life for decades to come.”
Background:
USDA is funding 5 projects through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program in Alabama. The program helps rural education and health care entities remotely reach students, patients and outside expertise. These capabilities make world-class education and health care opportunities accessible in Alabama’s rural communities. These projects are:
- In west Alabama, USDA’s investment of $916,948 will be used by the University of Alabama to connect 23 ambulances to seven hospitals in eight different rural counties in west-central Alabama. This network of ambulances will be equipped with telemedicine services to relay patient data to emergency room physicians. This technology will allow emergency room physicians to interact with emergency medical technicians, which will help to provide more efficient care for patients.
- In Lauderdale County, USDA’s investment of $245,618 will be used by the Lauderdale County Board of Education to install distance learning systems in Lauderdale County’s elementary and secondary schools, as well as at the Board of Education’s offices. The Board will purchase mobile carts, bridging software and wireless access points to create a remote teaching system. The distance learning system will enable teachers to provide lessons and educational opportunities to more students.
- In Clarke, Marengo, Wilcox and Monroe counties, USDA’s investment of $744,150 will be used by Physicians Care of Clarke to create a telehealth system across several regional healthcare systems. Leveraging primary health care sites, school-based health care sites, and administrative sites, rural residents in the region will now have access to primary and specialist physicians. This project will help install telemedicine carts and videoconferencing equipment at each clinic to capture diagnostic information, provide clinical supervision, and consultation services. This will help rural residents who are geographically isolated and have difficulty accessing serving primary and specialty care providers.
- In Bibb, Dallas, and Talladega counties, USDA’s investment of $580,308 will be used by the University of Montevallo to establish a telemedicine system to provide access to mental health through its Community Counseling Clinic. Telemedicine end-user units will be installed in high schools in Bibb, Dallas and Talladega counties that will be used to offer telemental health services to students, teachers and community members. The University will also use distance learning equipment to offer distance education for professional educators and instructional leaders, as well as high school students in dual-enrollment courses.
- In Bibb, Perry, Chilton, and Jefferson counties, USDA’s investment of $789,150 will be used by the Cahaba Medical Care Foundation for teleconferencing equipment, to offer distance learning for its family medicine residents. This program helps medical school graduates achieve medical licensure or board certification, while applying their skills in rural areas. In addition to educational uses, the equipment will also be used to provide telemedicine services in response to the influx of patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more about investment resources for rural areas in Alabama, interested parties should contact the USDA Rural Development Alabama state office at http://www.rd.usda.gov/al.
In January, President Biden requested all parts of the federal government to contribute resources to contain the coronavirus pandemic. USDA is responding to the President’s call to action. To date, more than 350 USDA personnel have deployed to assist with standing up vaccination sites, for example. In addition to personnel, USDA is offering its facilities, cold chain infrastructure, public health experts, disaster response specialists, and footprint in rural and Tribal communities across the country. USDA’s commitment to control the pandemic extends to our own staff and facilities, with masking and physical distancing requirements across USDA, a commitment to provide PPE to our front-line workers, and working with states to prioritize vaccinations for our workforce. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/coronavirus. USDA also encourages people seeking health insurance to go to HealthCare.gov now through May 15th due to a special enrollment period. If you are recently uninsured due to a job loss or between jobs, find a plan at HealthCare.gov and keep it for as long as you need it.
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USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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