ATLANTA — As part of a new federal grant program, more than a dozen rural hospitals across Georgia are set to receive federal funding to help struggling facilities avoid closures and retain medical staff.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff announced the funding for Georgia, saying he helped secure the funding from the U.S. Department of Health and human Services as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The funds themselves come from HHS’s Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program, or RHPAP.
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Through the program, 132 hospitals across the United States were selected for the program and are expected to receive roughly $187,500, drawn from a total pool of $24.75 million.
According to HHS, hospitals may use the grants to retain physicians, nurses and other health care providers, and to preserve essential services, including emergency, inpatient and other critical care.
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A bipartisan government funding bill that became law in February allocated the funds, nationally.
“Georgia’s rural hospitals have been under strain for years, made worse by recent cuts to Medicaid,” Ossoff said in a statement. “Bringing Republicans and Democrats in Congress together, I helped pass into law this new Federal funding to combat the GOP’s Medicaid cuts and help strengthen Georgia’s rural hospitals. Now the Federal funding is on its way.”
The grants come after Congress approved significant reductions to Medicaid last year, a move critics say has put additional financial pressure on rural providers that rely heavily on the program for reimbursements.
The RHPAP awards are part of a wider set of federal health care investments Ossoff says he has delivered for rural Georgia communities in recent years.
Here are the facilities getting portions of the assistance in Georgia, according to Ossoff’s office:
- AdventHealth Murray in Chatsworth
- Appling General Hospital in Baxley
- Burke Medical Center in Waynesboro
- Dodge County Hospital in Eastman
- Donalsonville Hospital in Donalsonville
- Dorminy Medical Center in Fitzgerald
- Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro
- Evans Memorial Hospital in Claxton
- Grady General Hospital in Cairo
- Jefferson Hospital in Louisville
- NGMC Habersham in Demorest
- SGHS - Camden Campus in St. Marys
- SGMC Berrien Campus in Nashville
- Southwell Medical in Adel
- Stephens County Hospital in Toccoa
- Union General Hospital in Blairsville
- University Hospital McDuffie in Thomson
- Washington Co. Regional Medical Center in Sandersville
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