File photo, Courtesy / USDA
Rhiannon Hampson
Updated: July 27, 2023
Two Maine rural health care providers to share $520K in funding
Two rural Maine health care organizations will share $520,000 in federal funding as part of a nationwide effort to expand access to care in less populated parts of the country.
In total, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is awarding $129 million in Emergency Rural Health Care grants. The investments aim to help regional partnerships, public bodies, nonprofits and Tribes solve regional rural health care challenges to build a stronger, more sustainable rural health care system for the nation’s small towns and communities.
The aim is to expand health care for more than five million people living in 39 states and Puerto Rico, as part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America initiative. Funding is made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act.
“During one of the most critical times in our nation’s history, the Biden-Harris Administration responded to deliver immediate economic relief and ensure rural people have access to quality health care,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small in Tuesday's announcement.
Funding for Maine includes a $69,800 grant for Fish River Rural Health, serving the northernmost towns in Aroostook County, and $450,900 for Belfast’s Penobscot Community Health Center.
“These investments are the very definition of ‘resiliency’ — they demonstrate what it is to emerge stronger from an unforeseeable event and as Mainers, this kind of hope resonates strongly,” said Rhiannon Hampson, Maine director of the USDA's Rural Development Program. “Every time the Biden-Harris Administration supports health center facilities in our small communities, they are investing in each and every one of us.”
Fish River Rural Health plans to use its funds to buy equipment for family medicine, dental and optometry services, along with technology and food distribution services. The health center serves the towns of Eagle Lake, Fort Kent and Madawaska.
Belfast’s Penobscot Community Health Center, founded as the Seaport Community Health Center nearly 40 years ago, plans to use its grant money to renovate the lower two floors of a recently acquired, 35,000-square-foot facility. With 60 employees, the center serves around 8,000 patients annually.
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