Six of the 34 rural health grants Gov. Kay Ivey announced Thursday, Oct. 1, name Perry County among the counties they will serve, three of them awarded to Cahaba Medical Care Foundation.
The grants, nearly $55 million in all, are the second round of the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program this year, the governor’s office said. The money comes from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs administers the program.
Cahaba Medical Care Foundation received three grants: $266,486 for Project LOOP, which is to expand cervical cancer detection, follow-up and treatment for women in Bibb, Chilton, Perry and Wilcox counties; $161,580 for a digital system that lets patients in the same four counties fill out intake forms, schedule appointments and pay online; and $125,055 for mobile, hands-on training for rural health care workers and emergency medical personnel in Bibb, Perry and Wilcox counties.
The University of Alabama received $1.76 million to supply emergency medical services in 13 counties, Perry among them, with portable telemedicine equipment, training and treatment protocols so that crews can care for some patients where they are instead of taking them to an emergency room.
The university’s project also sets up a demonstration in Lamar, Perry and Pickens counties that connects ambulance crews with physicians during calls to guide treatment, referrals, follow-up care and decisions about transport.
UAB St. Vincent’s Chilton received $618,000 for a mobile prostate cancer screening program in eight counties: Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Perry and Wilcox.
Greene County Health System received $308,694 for a network to coordinate how patients with suspected strokes, major trauma and other time-sensitive emergencies are identified, stabilized and transferred in 14 counties, including Perry.
Among the statewide grants, the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences, the residential high school in Demopolis, received $7.27 million, and the Alabama Community College System received $20.6 million to expand health care job training at rural community colleges.
The first round, announced in late August, awarded more than $144 million through 138 grants.
