Senator King will Join Hampson on Thursday to Announce Funding to Nine Rural Maine Health Care Facilities Impacted by the COVID Pandemic
BANGOR, ME, August 10, 2022 – Maine State Director Rhiannon C. Hampson announced today that USDA Rural Development is providing a total of $1 million to Sebasticook Family Doctors through a Community Facilities Emergency Rural Health Care Grant.
This investment will assist Sebasticook Family Doctors, dba Hometown Health Center, to construct a 49,000 square-foot health care and wellness facility in Palmyra, to help meet the needs of the community.
Maine State Director Hampson said, “This investment by USDA Rural Development in the Hometown Health Center epitomizes our commitment to meeting the needs of rural Maine. With these funds, the Biden-Harris Administration is supporting the critical work of bringing healthcare and wellness opportunities to more than 20 rural Maine communities. As Mainers reimagine what our needs will be post-pandemic, a theme of holistic health has emerged; physical, emotional and social healthcare services offered in one place by a team of caring professionals can truly help our rural communities to thrive. Under the leadership of Secretary Vilsack, USDA is meeting the needs of small communities in a big way, and Maine Rural Development is honored to facilitate that work.”
The current facility is small, and pandemic restrictions have hampered the organization’s ability to provide adequate services to the service area. The new, larger facility will provide a safe place for testing, especially during a pandemic, allowing for socially distant patient flow, isolated medical pods, and isolated indoor testing. The facility will provide access to high quality care, with Medication Assisted Therapy, a food cupboard, a teaching kitchen, and a dental addition, while adding jobs to the rural communities in the service area.
The Hometown Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center serving more than 20 communities consisting of more than 17,000 people throughout Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset and Waldo counties.
On Thursday, Senator Angus King, Jr., will join USDA Rural Development State Director Rhiannon Hampson in announcing Emergency Rural Healthcare Grants to nine Maine organizations.
To learn more about funding opportunities through the agency’s Community Facilities Program, contact Robert Nadeau, Community Facilities Programs Director at (207) 990-9121.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans 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, tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov/me. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit the GovDelivery subscriber page.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, 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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