Summit Pacific Medical Center to see expanded service areas due to USDA
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development announced that USDA is awarding $74 million in grants to improve health care facilities in rural towns across the country.
These grants will help 143 rural health care organizations expand critical services for 3 million people in 37 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.
The investments include $32 million for 67 rural health care organizations to help more than 1 million people living in socially vulnerable communities.
“Under the leadership of President Biden, Vice President Harris and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, USDA is committed to making sure that people, no matter where they live, have access to high-quality and reliable health care services like urgent care, primary care, and dental care,” Torres Small said. “The Emergency Rural Health Care Grants being announced today will build, renovate and equip health care provider facilities like hospitals and clinics in rural areas in 37 states. Having sustainable and accessible health care infrastructure in rural areas is critical to the health and well-being of the millions of people living in small towns across the Nation.”
This includes local funding of $456,800 for Grays Harbor County Public Hospital, District #1.
That funding will be used to expand the clinical footprint of Summit Pacific Medical Center (SPMC).
According to USDA, the funding was allocated specifically for increased capacity of COVID-19 testing and treatment.
The Summit Pacific expansion will shift current administrative space to six-exam rooms with a dedicated waiting room to support medical surge capacity for urgent care and specialty services.
The hospital district says that the current space for specialty and urgent care does not provide capacity to isolate patients who present with respiratory or other COVID like symptoms.
This renovation project will provide a dedicated space for patients who need specialty services away from the urgent care clinic with an isolated waiting room to minimize exposure.
The Biden-Harris Administration made these funds available in the Emergency Rural Health Care Grants Programs through the American Rescue Plan Act.
USDA Rural Development promotes a healthy community and environment through the Emergency Rural Health Care Grants to make sure people, kids and families have access to the health care they need.
The grants support the ability of rural communities to provide health care to the people and places in our country that often lack access.
The investments will help rural hospitals and health care providers implement telehealth and nutrition assistance programs, increase staffing to administer COVID-19 vaccines and testing, build or renovate facilities, and purchase medical supplies. They also will help regional partnerships, public bodies, nonprofits and Tribes solve regional rural health care problems and build a stronger, more sustainable rural health care system in response to the pandemic.
USDA will announce additional awardees for Emergency Rural Health Care Grants in the coming weeks and months.