News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002

Contact: HRSA Press Office
(301) 443-3376

HHS AWARDS $26.7 MILLION TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE IN RURAL AMERICA

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced $26.7 million in grants designed to improve health care in small rural hospitals and speed help to heart attack victims in rural America.

"Rural Americans deserve quality health care services, and these grants will help to provide life-enhancing and life-saving services for residents in rural communities," Secretary Thompson said. "This is one step in a broader effort to improve the services available in rural areas, where access to health care is often limited."

More than $14.8 million of the total comes from a program intended to help 1,450 small rural hospitals in 46 states and Puerto Rico improve the services they provide. Each hospital participating in the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant program will receive approximately $10,000, which will be spent to improve quality and patient safety by making greater investments in computers, software and technical assistance. Rural hospitals are defined as small if they have 49 or fewer beds.

The remaining $11.9 million in grants, part of the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Grant program, will go to states to buy automatic external defibrillators and train emergency personnel in rural areas in their proper use. Automatic defibrillators are lightweight, portable devices, which provide an electrical shock capable of restoring the normal heart rhythm of cardiac arrest victims, greatly improving chances of survival until they reach a hospital.

Both grant programs are part of the Secretary's Initiative on Rural Communities ( ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/initiative.htm), which aims to improve access to health care and social services for the 65 million Americans who live in rural areas. The grants are administered by the Office of Rural Health Policy ( www.ruralhealth.hrsa.gov) in HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The list of grant recipients follows:

Organization	City	State	Amount
HRSA Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program
Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services	Juneau	Alaska	$174,305
Alabama Department of Public Health	Montgomery	Ala.	276,838
Arkansas Department of Health	Little Rock	Ark.	317,851
University of Arizona	Tucson	Ariz.	133,292
California Dept. of Health Services	Sacramento	Calif.	379,370
Colorado Rural Health Center	Denver	Colo.	338,357
Florida Department of Health	Jacksonville	Fla.	174,305
Georgia Department of Community Health	Cordele	Ga.	481,903
Hawaii State Department of Health	Honolulu	Hawaii	92,279
Iowa Department of Public Health	Des Moines	Iowa	738,234
Idaho Department of Health & Welfare	Boise	Idaho	287,091
Illinois Department of Public Health	Springfield	Ill.	430,637
Indiana Department of Health	Indianapolis	Ind.	215,318
Kansas Dept Of Health and Environment	Topeka	Kan.	953,552
Univ. of Kentucky, Research Foundation	Lexington	Ky.	338,357
Louisiana Dept of Health and Hospitals	Baton Rouge	La.	287,091
Massachusetts Department of Public Health	Boston	Mass.	61,520
Maryland Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene	Baltimore	Md.	41,013
Maine Department of Human Services	Augusta	Maine	153,799
Michigan Department of Community Health	Lansing	Mich.	307,598
Minnesota Department of Health	St. Paul	Minn.	830,513
Missouri Department of Health	Jefferson City	Mo.	297,344
Mississippi Department of Health	Jackson	Miss.	441,979
Montana State University	Bozeman	Mont.	481,903
N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services	Raleigh	N.C.	215,318
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks	N.D.	338,357
State of Nebraska	Lincoln	Neb.	666,461
New Hampshire Department of Health & Welfare, Division of Public Health	Concord	N.H.	123,039
State of New Mexico	Albuquerque	N.M.	123,039
University of Nevada , Reno	Reno	Nev.	133,292
Health Research, Inc.	Rensselaer	N.Y.	123,039
Ohio Department of Health	Columbus	Ohio	174,305
Oklahoma Department of Health	Oklahoma City	Okla.	666,461
Oregon Health & Sciences University	Portland	Ore.	287,091
Pennsylvania State University	University Park	Pa.	123,039
Castaner General Hospital, Inc.	Castaner	P.R.	9,765
Hospital Metropolitano de San German	San German	P.R.	9,765
Hospital Lafayette	Arroyo	P.R.	9,765
Hospital San Agustin, Inc.	Manati	P.R.	9,765
South Carolina State Office	Columbia	S.C.	71,773
State of South Dakota	Pierre	S.D.	420,383
Tennessee Department of Health	Nashville	Tenn.	307,598
Office of Rural Community Affairs	Austin	Texas	1,148,364
Utah Department of Health	Salt Lake City	Utah	194,812
Virginia State Department of Health	Richmond	Va.	133,292
State of Vermont	Burlington	Vt.	92,279
Washington Department of Health	Olympia	Wash.	399,877
Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin System	Madison	Wis.	512,663
West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources	Charleston	W.Va.	174,305
Wyoming Department of Health	Cheyenne	Wyo.	164,052
Total:			$14,866,348

Organization	City	State	Amount
HRSA Rural Access to Emergency Devices Grant Program
Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services	Juneau	Alaska	$237,703
Alabama Department of Public Health	Montgomery	Ala.	$262,160
Arkansas Department of Health	Little Rock	Ark.	$239,036
Arizona Department of Health Services	Phoenix	Ariz.	$216,328
California Emergency Medical Services Authority	Sacramento	Calif.	$194,129
Colorado Rural Health Center	Denver	Colo.	$216,893
Connecticut Department of Public Health	Hartford	Conn.	$182,172
Delaware Dept. of Health & Social Services	Dover	Del.	$195,017
Florida Department of Health	Jacksonville	Fla.	$224,637
Georgia Department of Human Resources	Atlanta	Ga.	$250,000
Hawaii Department of Health	Honolulu	Hawaii	$469,185
Iowa Department of Public Health	Des Moines	Iowa	$200,000
Idaho Department of Health And Welfare, Emergency Medical Services Bureau	Boise	Idaho	$273,306
Illinois Department of Public Health	Springfield	Ill.	$212,946
Indiana State Police	Indianapolis	Ind.	$191,515
Kan. Board of Emergency Medical Services	Topeka	Kan.	$264,050
University of Kentucky, Research Foundation	Lexington/p>	Ky.	$296,693s
Louisiana Dept of Health and Hospitals	Baton Rouge	La.	$235,660
Massachusetts Department of Public Health	Boston	Mass.	$194,156
Maryland Institute for EMS Systems	Baltimore	Md.	$199,727
Maine Bd. of Emergency Medical Services	Augusta	Maine	$276,205
Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services	Lansing	Mich.	$257,112
Minnesota Emergency Medical ServicesRegulatory Board	Minneapolis	Minn.	$257,820
Missouri Department of Health	Jefferson City	Mo.	$236,302
Mississippi Department of Health	Jackson	Miss.	$307,699
Montana Department of Health & Environmental Services	Helena	Mont.	$270,683
N.C. Department of Health & Human Services, Division of Facility Services	Raleigh	N.C.	$289,586
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks	N.D.	$257,465
State of Nebraska	Lincoln	Neb.	$235,607
State of New Hampshire, Bureau of EMS	Concord	N.H.	$245,724
American Red Cross of Central New Jersey	Princeton	N.J.	$151,798
New Mexico Department of Health	Santa Fe	N.M.	$251,733
Board of Regents, of the UCCSN on behalf of UNR, SOM	Reno	Nev.	$200,914
Health Research, Inc.	Rensselaer	N.Y.	$227,312
Ohio Department of Public Safety	Columbus	Ohio	$267,382
Oklahoma Department of Health	Oklahoma City	Okla.	$231,815
Oregon Health & Sciences University	Portland	Ore.	$240,397
Pennsylvania Department of Health	Harrisburg	Pa.	$260,491
South Carolina State Office of Rural Health	Columbia	S.C.	$256,757
State of South Dakota	Pierre	S.D.	$229,624
Tennessee Department of Health	Nashville	Tenn.	$259,988
Texas Department of Health	Austin	Texas	$269,575
Utah Department of Health	Salt Lake City	Utah	$222,893
Virginia Department of Health	Richmond	Va.	$220,567
State of Vermont	Burlington	Vt./p>	$260,359
Washington Department of Health	Olympia	Wash.	$218,267
Wisconsin Department of Health	Madison	Wis.	$250,000
W.Va. Dept. of Health & Human Resources	Charleston	W.Va.	$270,899
Wyoming Department of Health	Cheyenne	Wyo.	$249,714
Total:			$11,930,001

###

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: October 29, 2002

News Release

HHS AWARDS $26.7 MILLION TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE IN RURAL AMERICA

HRSA Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program

HRSA Rural Access to Emergency Devices Grant Program