"It is vital that people who live in rural communities have access to quality health care and educational opportunities, and these investments will help bridge the gap." - Deidre Deculus Robert, USDA Rural Development Louisiana State Director.
LOUISIANA, MARCH. 6, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Louisiana State Director Deidre Deculus Robert today announced that the department will invest more than $2.2 million to improve access to distance learning and telemedicine in rural Louisiana.
Background: Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants
Today’s investments are being funded through USDA’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) program. This program helps fund distance learning and telemedicine services in rural areas to increase access to education, training and health care resources that are otherwise limited or unavailable.
For example:
- Access Health will receive funds to equip two hub sites and 17 end users throughout Rapides, St. Charles, Avoyelles, Grant, LaSalle, and Natchitoches parishes in Louisiana with telemedicine carts. Medical professionals at Access Health will provide primary care and mental health services, including SUD and OUD with a focus on 17 SBHC end user sites in 17 public/charter schools located in rural communities of Central Louisiana benefiting 22,822 individuals.
- Citizens Medical Center in Columbia will receive fund to equip a hub site and one end-user site throughout Orleans and Caldwell parishes with telemedicine equipment. Medical professionals at Ochsner Medical Center in Orleans Parish, Louisiana will deliver stroke, intensive, and psychiatric care services to one location benefiting 9,500 individuals.
- Southeastern University will receive funds to equip three hub sites and 10 end-user sites throughout Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, St. Helena, Washington, and Livingston parishes with telehealth carts, peripherals (Otoscope, stethoscope), and portable telehealth kits. Medical professionals at Hood Memorial Hospital in Amite City and St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington will provide telehealth care to their patients, while Southeastern in Hammond will provide mental health services throughout the project area. Southeastern, Hood Memorial Hospital, and St. Tammany Parish Hospital will be hubs for non-fixed sites and will loan portable telehealth kits to rural residents in Tangipahoa Parish through Southeastern, and Hood Memorial Hospital and St. Tammany Parish Hospital will loan these devices to residents in the western portion of St. Tammany Parish with the entire project benefiting 167,016 individuals. •
- Southern University will receive $433,655 through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant program. This Rural Development investment will be used to equip one hub site and 18 end-user sites throughout Madison, Claiborne, Tensas, Catahoula, Union, Evangeline, Iberville, Winn, West Feliciana, Natchitoches, Caldwell, Tangipahoa, Richland, De Soto, Ouachita, Washington, Franklin, and East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana with distance learning equipment and technology. Instructors at Southern University Agricultural & Mechanical College in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana will deliver opioid abuse community counseling and educational programming, law education clinics and programming, and business education and programming to 18 locations benefiting 63,358 students.
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.
To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit the GovDelivery subscriber page. To learn more, visit www.rd.usda.gov/LA.
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