| WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and Representatives Marion Berry (AR-01) and Mike Ross (AR-04) today announced an $82,444 grant for Chicot Memorial Hospital through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The grant is funded through the department’s Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program.
Chicot Memorial Hospital will use the money to form the Greater Delta Alliance for Health, which will focus on improving outreach services, developing a patient advocacy program, and eventually converting to an electronic database for records. The network’s board will be comprised of the Chief Executive Officers of hospitals in McGehee, Dumas, Lake Village, Stuttgart, and DeWitt.
"As a native of the Arkansas Delta, I know it is important for families living in rural areas to have access to vital health care services," said Lincoln. "I commend members of the Southeast Arkansas health community for seeking this federal funding, which will benefit residents in the southeast corner of our state.”
“Access to quality health care should not be a challenge for families in rural Arkansas,” said Pryor. “This investment will strengthen critical medical services and ultimately improve the quality of life for many Delta residents.”
"These funds will be used to create a partnership of shared resources to provide the best possible care for patients in rural areas," said Berry. "Success is always more likely when we work together and I'm pleased to help secure these federal dollars for local rural communities in Arkansas."
“As a member of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Rural Health Care Coalition in Congress, I am committed to ensuring that our rural communities are given the same health care and opportunities as larger, more urban areas,” Ross said. “I am proud to join with my colleagues to announce these important funds so that all Arkansans, regardless of where they live, have access to quality health care.”
The Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program provides grants designed to support the planning and development of formative health care networks in rural areas that focus on integrating clinical, information, administrative, and financial systems across members. The purpose of the grants is to improve the coordination of health services in rural communities and strengthening the rural health care system as a whole.
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