Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will fund 81 Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) projects in 32 states. These projects will help connect rural communities with medical and educational experts in other parts of the country, increasing access to health care, substance misuse treatment and advanced educational opportunities.
“Using technology for educational opportunities and medical care can provide services that are often unavailable in rural areas,” Vilsack said. “USDA’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program helps communities better meet the needs of their residents. For example, opioid and other substance misuse disproportionately affect rural areas, and telemedicine is proving to be an effective tool for treating patients when experts otherwise would be unavailable. Hospitals, schools and training centers across the country are successfully using telecommunications to deliver specialized care to area residents, and we are proud to bring these capabilities to 81 additional communities.”
USDA is awarding $23.4 million in grants to support 45 distance learning and 36 telemedicine projects. Two DLT projects in South Dakota received a total of $610,963 as part of the announcement.
Some of the awards will help communities provide services to address opioid misuse, a problem that is especially prevalent in rural areas. Secretary Vilsack is leading an interagency effort to address the rural opioid crisis. He held a town hall meeting in Abingdon, Va., on June 30 to address how the crisis is affecting rural America and parts of Appalachia and announced funding for five DLT projects in rural Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia to respond to the issue.
In South Dakota, Avera Health, based in Sioux Falls, was selected to receive $494,518 to integrate 18 rural, under-staffed hospitals with Avera’s ePharmacy network. A pharmacist will provide prescription review and pharmacy support 24 hours a day. An automated dispensing machine will be deployed at each hospital to reduce medication errors & to improve patient safety. The project will serve counties including in South Dakota Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Grant, Gregory, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lincoln, Minnehaha, and Moody; in Iowa Plymouth and Sioux; in Nebraska Knox; and in Minnesota Hutchinson, and Pipestone.
Mount Marty College, based in Yankton, was selected to receive $116,445 to purchase video conferencing equipment to provide Master’s in Education curriculum to Tribal colleges. This project will help train current and future teachers as well as provide professional development through distance learning.
USDA Rural Development has provided $213 million for 634 DLT projects in rural areas nationwide since 2009. USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, which administers the DLT program, also offers infrastructure programs that bring broadband, safe drinking water and improved wastewater treatment facilities to rural communities.
Since 2009, USDA Rural Development (@USDARD) has helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses; invested $31.3 billion in 963 electric projects that have financed more than 185,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines serving 4.6 million rural residents; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes; and funded nearly 7,000 community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care facilities. USDA also has invested $11 billion to start or expand 103,000 rural businesses. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results.