USDA www.usda.gov is seeking applications for grants to improve healthcare in the Delta Region. Nearly $4.4 million in grant funding is available through the Delta Health Care Services Grant Program www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/all-programs. The program helps towns in the Delta region access high quality medical and healthcare services.
Groups eligible for grants include higher education institutions, health and research institutes, economic development entities, healthcare cooperatives or consortia of these entities. Recipients must serve residents of the Delta Region which includes 22 counties and parishes in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.
Sam Rikkers, Administration for USDA’s Rural Business Cooperative Service visited Southeastern Louisiana University www.southeastern.edu on September 8, 2016 to award the school a $646,482 grant to use to improve a healthcare training project the University launched in 2013.
The University is expanding a program where volunteers are trained as health coaches and motivational aides as part of a care coordination strategy. The program is designed to reduce hospital readmissions, improve patient health, and improve the quality of the medical workforce.
Paper applications for the Delta Health Care Services grant funding are due November 14, 2016 with electronic copies due November 7. For more information, go to the September 13, 2016 Federal Register page 62854. For application guide and materials, contact your local Rural Development State Office www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices.