Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) announced that CareConnect Health is receiving a $5,626,121 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Center Program to improve and expand health services across Middle and Southwest Georgia. Last month, CareConnect was also awarded $499,999 from HHS through its Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program. Over 114,000 patients are served by CareConnect Health centers, of whom nearly half live at or below the Federal Poverty Guideline.
“Rural populations face the two-fold problem of higher rates of poverty and lower access to healthcare resources. As the leader of the House Appropriations subcommittee which addresses rural development, I have worked hard with my colleagues across the aisle to make sure that quality healthcare is available — close to home — for our families in rural communities,” said Congressman Bishop. “These funds show that we are continuing to make robust federal investments in our rural healthcare infrastructure to improve facilities as well as encourage more physicians and nurses to work in these communities.”
The Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program supports the development of new accredited primary care residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine-pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and geriatrics to address the physician workforce shortages and challenges faced by rural and underserved communities.
CareConnect Health, Inc. was founded in 1978 in Richland, Georgia, and has since expanded to provide access to healthcare in Americus, Buena Vista, Butler, Byron, Cordele, Cusseta, Cuthbert, Dawson, Ellaville, Forsyth, Fort Valley, Georgetown, Montezuma, Moultrie, Oglethorpe, Perry, Roberta, Thomaston, Tifton, Warner Robins, and more. The HHS grant funds announced will help maintain these health centers.
In the last month, HHS also awarded $2,173,928 through the Health Resources & Services Administration’s (HRSA) Health Center Cluster grant program to Valley Healthcare System, Inc. which is based in Columbus, Georgia. The purpose of this grant is to provide financial assistance to Health Centers so they can continue offering comprehensive services in underserved communities.
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