Giving Healthcare a Boost

This issue contains our Top Hospitals ranking and our feature on the current state of Georgia’s hospitals. Like many other states, we see a pattern of closures in rural areas that threatens the health and economy of all of Georgia. Many hospitals are depending on state support, like the $6 million given to 13 Georgia rural hospitals as part of the Dual Track Rural Hospital Support program. Such grants help close gaps in funding as the federal stimulus fades post COVID-19.

State funding has been available since 2016 when the Department of Community Affairs began distributing Rural Hospital Stabilization grants under then-Gov. Nathan Deal. Other entities have also stepped up over the last decade to help hospitals with issues outlined in the article, ranging from uninsured patients to labor shortages.

CareSource, a nonprofit, mission-driven Medicaid plan serving more than 450,000 Georgians, created the Rural Access Advancement Program and has committed $5 million in loans to assist rural hospitals and hospital-owned skilled nursing homes. HomeTown Health in Cumming, representing 50 rural hospitals in Georgia, has served as an adviser for the program. Taylor Health Care Group in Cochran used $750,000 in emergency funding from the program for critical vendor payments for Taylor Regional Hospital. Additionally, CareSource recently invested $20,000 in Evans Memorial Hospital’s outpatient cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program to expand health services in Evans County.

Kaiser Permanente is investing over $490,000 in support to increase the number of diverse licensed clinicians in Georgia, where there is a shortage of mental health workers. The funding supports Resilient Georgia, a statewide coalition of 900 public-private partners and stakeholders working to create an integrated mental health network, with a focus on youth and families. Kaiser is also investing $1.75 million in grants to two organizations that are working to increase access to maternal and infant health resources in Georgia. Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia is getting $750,000, and Morehouse School of Medicine is getting $1 million. Kaiser is also granting $350,000 to Georgia Charitable Care Network and $700,000 to Georgia Association of Primary Health Care, and it’s donating $120,000 apiece to 10 rural health centers.

Photo caption: Tumisu

In response to the pandemic, Mercer University’s Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center teamed up with the Global Partnership for Telehealth, based in Waycross, to deliver free telehealth capabilities to rural healthcare providers statewide. To date, the program has reached over 130 clinics.

A center housed at Georgia State University is helping the Health Resources and Services Administration with two grant programs: the Telehealth Network Grant Program and Evidence-Based Telehealth Network Program. GSU’s Georgia Health Policy Center is partnering with CSI Solutions to provide technical assistance to grant recipients, which include regional health systems and university medical centers. The money will be used to implement rural tele-emergency services and direct-to-consumer telehealth initiatives.

In Carrollton, Tanner Health used COVID-19 funding to expand its InTouch Health telemedicine platform, incorporating new specialties and locations as well as remote patient monitoring tech through Vivify Health, integrated with its electronic health. This allows enhanced monitoring of in-home patients and beefed-up broadband for remote clinics.

Donors using the HEART program are eligible to receive a 100% state income tax credit.

Since 2016, Wellstar Sylvan Grove Hospital in Butts County has received $10 million through the Georgia HEART (Helping Enhance Access to Rural Treatment) Hospital Program. Donors using the HEART program are eligible to receive a 100% state income tax credit on donations to qualified rural hospitals. Facilitated through the Wellstar Foundation, the funds have supported a full renovation of the hospital’s emergency department, an expansion of the radiology department and other needs, such as advanced CT scanning technology.

Also using the HEART program, Ameris Bank donated $2.23 million to 40 rural hospitals in Georgia in June. Ameris has contributed more than $12 million total since 2018.

Southeastern Bank is yet another entity that used the HEART program, donating $100,000 to the Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus. The bank has contributed a total of $300,000 to the Camden facility since 2010.

Participation in the Georgia HEART Hospital Program is limited to Georgia rural hospitals that meet qualification criteria established by law. Please consider participating and leaving a legacy of community good for your business or yourself and your family.