New FCC COVID-19 Telehealth Awards Total $4.2 Million

The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has approved 13 awards for funding totaling $4.2 million through the COVID-19 Telehealth program. So far, that program has awarded $13.7 million in funding applications for 30 health care providers in 16 states.

The $2 trillion CARES Act, which was passed in mid-March, provides the FCC with $200 million in funding for telehealth initiatives.

A press release lists the awards:

• Augusta University Medical Center (Augusta, GA) was awarded $113,744 to expand its ultraportable ultrasound program to differentiate and screen COVID-19 patients for different types of respiratory diseases prior to hospital admittance.
• Children’s Hospital Colorado (Aurora, CO), which has 14 locations in the state, was awarded $807,090 to provide telehealth services to medical care for children, adolescents, and young adults with complex pediatric illnesses in the Rocky Mountain region.
• Country Doctor Community Health Centers (Seattle, WA) was awarded $392,770 to serve its low income, high-risk and vulnerable patient population by building its telehealth capacity and online screening functionality to triage COVID-19 patients remotely and treat patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, pulmonary disorders and substance abuse disorders.
• Greene County General Hospital (Linton, IN) was awarded $60,480 to expand its mobile telehealth capacity to ensure continued care to patients including seniors, that have been displaced by the COVID-19 response within its current facilities.
• The Institute for Family Health, (New Paltz, NY) one of the largest Federally Qualified Health Center networks in the state, was awarded $729,118 for 16 of its community health centers, including group homes for the developmentally disabled, to provide telehealth visits for primary medical and preventive care, mental health care and care management services for patients of all ages.
• Lancaster Health Center (Lancaster, PA) was awarded $75,710 to expand telehealth capacity to screen and treat COVID-19 patients, and manage care for patients at risk of severe complications if exposed to the virus. Included is care for migrant patients with high poverty rates and older patients with pre-existing conditions.
• Loudoun Community Health Center T/A HealthWorks for Northern Virginia (Leesburg, VA), was awarded $93,380 to expand its video telehealth services to identify COVID-19 patients remotely and provide remote patient care.
• Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) was awarded $1,000,000 to implement video telehealth services and remote patient monitoring across its midwest footprint in more than 50 communities in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The goal is to minimize exposure and slow further spread of the COVID-19 virus while maintaining patient care and monitoring standards.
• McLaren Health Care Corporation (Grand Blanc, MI) was awarded $626,328 for 12 health care provider sites to enhance telehealth connectivity across Michigan. The goal is to provide safe high-quality care to patients, including high risk and vulnerable people at the Karmanos Cancer Center, and to decrease the exposure to all health care providers using multiple telehealth platforms and devices.
• New York Psychotherapy and Counseling Center (Jamaica, NY) with two sites in the Bronx and Brooklyn, was awarded $126,799 to implement telehealth to serve low-income and at-risk patients struggling with mental health issues, in order to reduce 911 calls and emergency room visits and expedite post-hospital discharge.
• Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation (New Hyde Park, NY) was awarded $97,965 for telehealth services and connected devices, including remote monitoring devices, to care for the elderly and chronically ill in its 527-bed skilled nursing facility and rehabilitation center specializing in the care of older adults.
• Service Program for Older People, Inc. (New York, NY) was awarded $26,180 to implement telehealth services to provide comprehensive mental health services to adults age 55 and older, who are at a high risk for COVID-19 due to age, medical frailty and isolation, and in order to avert unnecessary emergency room visits.
• Valley-Wide Health Systems, Inc. (Alamosa, CO) was awarded $46,437 to implement video telehealth services to provide virtual health visits for COVID-19 screening and primary medical care to its vulnerable low-income and elderly patients.

The CARES Act includes another $100 million for the US Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program.