Greene County Health Care (GCHC) is one of 67 health care organizations to receive funding from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau to help implement telehealth services as part of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

GCHC received $948,576 for remote monitoring and diagnostic equipment and a telehealth platform subscription to provide COVID-19 screenings using interactive voice recognition, as well as to monitor patients remotely using connected devices and to evaluate the monitoring data for abnormal readings and follow up care.

Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $20.18 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which was authorized by the CARES Act, has approved funding for 305 health care providers in 42 states plus Washington, D.C. for a total of $104.98 million in funding.

“Since the adoption of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, the FCC has acted quickly to review applications and approve funding so that more patients can be treated safely at home,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “We have already awarded funds to health care providers across our country, from Maine to the Navajo Nation, Washington to Florida, and Minnesota to Mississippi.  And we are already seeing the program’s positive impact on the health and wellness of our communities. To give just one example, the program is enabling the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to remotely monitor children who have received organ transplants and are thus immunocompromised. Additionally, the program is focused on mental as well as physical health. More than 100 mental and behavioral health care providers have been awarded funding to ensure that their patients receive the treatment and support they need during the pandemic. We will continue processing applications as quickly as we can in order to promote worthy telehealth projects across the country.”

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number H80CS10607 Health Center Program, in the amount of $8,654,913 or 48% of total program costs with $8,956,453 or 50% financed with nongovernmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov. GCHC is licensed by the state of North Carolina, led by an independent Board of Directors and is a FQHC Program grantee under 42 U.S.C. 254. GCHC receives HHS funding and has Federal Health Service (PHS) deemed status with respect to certain health or health-related claims, including medical malpractice claims, for itself and its covered individuals.