Senators Seek to Restore Law Enforcement Funding
Grants Office Presentations Available to Download
Grants Office is making many of its popular Webcast presentations available for download. Simply go to www.grantsoffice.com/seminars/ and select the one you would like to view.
The seminars will stream to most media players.
Grants Office Congratulates One Community on $11 Million Win
Grants Office is pleased to congratulate long time client One Community on its recent $11 million grant award, in partnership with the Northeast Ohio Regional Health Information Organization (NEO RHIO). Grants Office provided grants development support on the proposal, which included coordination of a number of collaborative agencies.
The Federal Communications Commission announced Monday that the Northeast Ohio Regional Health Information Organization (NEO RHIO) and OneCommunity are the recipients of an $11.2 million capital grant that will fund 70 percent of the total $16.1 million development of a regional broadband health care network over a three year period. The remaining 30 percent needed for the project will be raised through other sources. Funds will be used to extend OneCommunity’s dedicated HealthNet high-speed broadband network to connect 19 rural hospitals and numerous clinics spanning 22 counties (Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Holmes, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Sandusky, Seneca, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Wayne) to over 30 existing hospitals connected to the OneCommunity network. HealthNet will enable NEO RHIO and its collaborative medical providers to deliver telemedicine applications, records access, medical imaging and remote diagnostic services.
The FCC grant is part of the national Rural Healthcare Pilot Program (RHCPP), a $417 million campaign connecting over 6,000 public and non-profit healthcare providers in rural, urban and suburban communities to a high-speed broadband network. There is a great need for broadband in the rural healthcare community, where isolated clinics will now have the opportunity to save lives by using advanced communications technology to tap into the expertise of modern urban medical centers. The effort supports the President’s goal of a national system to manage electronic patient health records and will connect to the National LamdaRail and Internet2. The FCC announcement comes on the heels of last week’s American Health Information Community conference in Chicago where FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed plans to develop the RHCPP.
“This is an important economic development for our region’s healthcare industry,” says Mark Ansboury, acting chief technology officer for NEO RHIO and chief technology officer of OneCommunity. “We now have the opportunity, for the first time, to connect rural medical facilities to a network of nationally recognized health care providers. In the end, the grant is not only revolutionizing the way health care is delivered in rural areas, but is also helping the people that need it most – the patients.”
FCC Chairman announces plans for $400 million Rural Telehealth Program
Washington, D.C. – Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin J. Martin today announced a comprehensive proposal to fund a $400 million Rural Health Care Pilot Program (RHCPP) that would expand access to health care to America’s rural and underserved communities through the creation of broadband telehealth networks in 42 states and three U.S. territories.
As part of today’s announcement, Chairman Martin joined U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael O. Leavitt at a meeting of the American Health Information Community in Chicago to highlight key points of his rural health care proposal. Under this initiative, broadband deployment will support the efficient delivery of health care to patients through telemedicine. Facilitating telemedicine programs can reduce costs and travel time for consumers, help decrease medical errors, and enable health care providers to quickly share critical patient-care information electronically.
Chairman Martin said, “With this pilot program, the Commission will be taking a major step toward the goal of connecting health care facilities across the nation with one another through broadband telehealth networks for the benefit of patients. We look forward to working with Secretary Leavitt and HHS to advance initiatives that improve access to health care for patients through telemedicine and support the creation of a national system for interoperable electronic health records well into the future.”
“I applaud the FCC's efforts to advance availability of broadband services in rural and underserved communities, especially among health care providers,” HHS Secretary Leavitt said. “By advancing the broadband infrastructure needed to support health information technology, the FCC is moving us toward the President’s goal of ensuring most Americans have access to interoperable electronic health records by 2014.”
The health care facilities qualified to participate in this pilot program would utilize funding to leverage existing telehealth networks or build-out new, comprehensive systems for telehealth projects. RHCPP participants would be eligible for universal service funding to support up to 85 percent of the costs associated with the design, engineering and construction of innovative and highly efficient broadband systems.
Participants deploying dedicated broadband health care networks would also have the option of connecting those systems to the public internet as well as to one of the Nation’s dedicated Internet backbones: Internet-2, National LambdaRail (NLR) or the public Internet. For more information on the Rural Health Care Pilot Program please visit the FCC’s web site at: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/rural/rhcp.html.
In addition, health care providers participating in the pilot program would be strongly encouraged to coordinate in the use of their telehealth networks with HHS and, in particular, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in instances of national, regional or local public health emergencies (e.g., bioterrorism events, pandemics or disease-related outbreaks). In such public health emergencies, selected participants would provide access to their supported networks to public health officials so that they could share critical, time-sensitive information and risk management guidance as part of a comprehensive response effort.
News and other information about the Federal Communications Commission
are available at www.fcc.gov.
Register for the latest PSIC Grant Update
PSIC GRANTS UPDATE - SPONSORED BY CISCO
Join us for a Webinar on Wednesday, October 17TH at 2PM EDT
Space is limited
Reserve your Webinar seat now at https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/490984950
It's happening! States are beginning to define the application requirements and timelines for passing through the Public Safety Interoperable Communications grants to local agencies.
Join Grants Office CEO Michael Paddock as we discuss the trends and priorities that are emerging among the states. We will also discuss how to participate in your state's pass-through process and provide a live demo of the Cisco IPICS Interoperability Solution.
Register today!
https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/490984950
Grants Office CEO to present at NACO/NLC Policy Academy in San Francisco
Grants Office CEO Michael Paddock will present on Grants and Funding at a Policy Academy sponsored by the National Association of Counties and the National League of Cities. The event, scheduled to take place on October 18-19, 2007 will bring together first responders from around the nation.