For Immediate Release

FCC APPROVES TWELFTH SET OF COVID-19 TELEHEALTH PROGRAM APPLICATIONS

Commission Continues Approving Telehealth Funding During Coronavirus Pandemic

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2020—The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau today approved an additional 77 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.  Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $29.41 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 444 funding applications in 46 states plus Washington, D.C. for a total of $157.64 million in funding.

• Ne Ia Shing Clinic, in Onamia, Minnesota, was awarded $350,679 for laptop computers, telemedicine carts, videoconferencing equipment, and network upgrades to implement telehealth capabilities for a variety of medical services, including family practice services, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, and dental care for patients in the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

• Utah Navajo Health System, in Montezuma Creek, Utah, was awarded $232,009 for laptop computers and network upgrades to provide comprehensive health care services using telehealth, including medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, by providing connected laptops to patients in Montezuma Creek, Monument Valley, Navajo Mountain, Blanding and surrounding communities.

Below is a list of health care providers that were approved for funding:

• 10th Street Clinic, in Richmond, Indiana, was awarded $152,931 for laptop computers and remote monitoring equipment to track the weight, blood pressure, pulse oximetry, glucose, and body temperature of high-risk patients at home to avoid having to come to the clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• AccessCNY, in Syracuse, New York, was awarded $134,286 for telemedicine carts, remote diagnostic kits, and mobile hotspots to maintain care of individuals with a mental health diagnosis living in AccessCNY’s residences through telehealth visits with primary care doctors and teletherapy sessions for mental health care to allow frequent and reliable connections to the therapists.

• Ascension Health, in St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded $926,266 for desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, a telehealth platform subscription, and remote monitoring equipment to offer virtual urgent care, virtual provider care to allow patients to see their existing provider virtually for a scheduled appointment, and hospital-based telehealth careintended to provide patients consultations with specialists.

• Atlantic Health System, in Morristown, New Jersey, was awarded $499,800 for a remote monitoring subscription service that will allow patients suffering from diabetes, who are high-risk and susceptible to poor outcomes if infected with COVID-19, to remain at home and safely monitor their health.

• Augusta University Medical Center, in Augusta, Georgia, was awarded $710,316 for telemedicine carts, videoconferencing equipment, laptop computers, and a telehealth platform that will allow clinicians and healthcare providers to connect directly to patients for diagnosis and treatment via an app on the patient’s device or computer, will provide information on COVID-19 and the quarantine and social distancing requirements, and will schedule drive-through COVID-19 testing.

• Avera eCare, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was awarded $803,588 for monitoring and diagnostic equipment to be used in patient rooms at 450 hospitals in 29 states that provides two-way, high definition video for clear communication between the patient and the remote provider team, and also allows the providers to assess patient health with a pan-and-zoom camera, to see patient pupil response, to read patient EKGs, and to conduct remote intubation with a video laryngoscope.

• Barnes-Kasson County Hospital, in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, was awarded $12,595 for laptop computers to accommodate the increase in virtual patient visits and to continue treating vulnerable populations with virtual appointments in order to conserve available PPE for nursing home and COVID-19 isolation units.

• Baystate Medical Center, in Springfield, Massachusetts, was awarded $927,146 for remote monitoring platforms focused on obstetrics, diabetes, and hypertension, tablets for distribution to patients and providers, as well as videoconferencing equipment to enable telehealth visits and treatment network upgrades, and kiosks to offer telehealth visits at community hospitals.

• The Bridge, in New York, New York, was awarded $440,875 for laptop computers and videoconferencing equipment and software to increase capacity for telehealth services throughout clinical, residential, and care coordination programs, as well as phones or tablets for patients so they can participate in calls with providers and in private videoconference sessions with clinical staff.

• Broward Health Medical Center, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, was awarded $1,000,000 for tablets, web cameras, a telehealth platform, telehealth intensive care units, and network upgrades across several facilities to expand access to care for patients who are disproportionately affected by chronic disease and immunocompromised patients by increasing the number of providers that are able to offer telehealth visits and improving patient safety by minimizing opportunity for exposure to COVID-19 and encouraging self-isolation.

• Burrell Behavioral Health, in Springfield, Missouri, was awarded $767,184 for laptop computers, mobile hotspots, network upgrades, and videoconferencing equipment to expand and offer connected mental health services for Missourians affected by COVID-19, including existing mental health patients, new patients experiencing anxiety related to COVID-19, and essential, front-line workers.

• Carevide, in Greenville, Texas, was awarded $189,653 for laptop computers, video monitors, and network upgrades to provide high-quality video visits to ensure patients in the rural Texas community can continue receiving care while also protecting patients and staff from the COVID-19 virus.

• Center for Family Health and Education, in Panorama City, California, was awarded $313,974 for tablets, a remote monitoring platform and remote monitoring equipment, and a telehealth platform to expand telehealth services for chronically ill patients who need regular monitoring at home to keep them away from potential infection at the clinic and to free up providers on site for triage and testing for COVID-19.

• Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling Services, in Hicksville, New York, was awarded $513,403 for laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, and videoconferencing equipment and software to continue expansion of remote behavioral health treatment options during the COVID-19 crisis and to ensure the safety of staff.

• The Children’s Center, in Detroit, Michigan, was awarded $118,604 for laptop computers, tablets, and videoconferencing software to fully implement telehealth alternatives and maintain care between mental health professionals and patients, who in some cases need to be loaned tablets to connect with providers.

• Circle Health Services, in Cleveland, Ohio, was awarded $663,704 for laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, and videoconferencing equipment and software and will offer remote diagnostic services and treatment for primary care, dental services, and mental health and addiction disorder treatment services as well as internet connectivity services to maintain a connection with healthcare professionals.

• Clay County Medical Center, in Clay Center, Kansas, was awarded $126,960 for telemedicine carts, remote monitoring equipment, and videoconferencing software to continue providing medical care to patients in rural areas, including monitoring and treatment using telehealth of COVID-19 patients from their home if symptoms do not require a hospital stay.

• Clinica Family Health, in Lafayette, Colorado, was awarded $182,347 for a remote access platform, a telehealth platform, network upgrades, and videoconferencing software that would support the full scope of primary medical care capabilities by using telehealth and remote care so as to maintain access to medical treatments while also mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

• Community Alliance Rehabilitation, in Omaha, Nebraska, was awarded $637,128 for laptop computers, video monitors, tablets, and network upgrades to provide fully integrated primary health care and mental health care to patients at home and in the community to divert them from hospitals unless medically necessary.

• CommUnity Care, in Austin, Texas, was awarded $264,132 for computers, remote monitoring equipment, a telehealth platform subscription, and videoconferencing equipment and software to help test patients for COVID-19, to monitor patient glucose and blood pressure, and to enable telehealth visits and remote work for the clinical teams.

• Community Health of Central Washington, in Yakima, Washington, was awarded $288,530 for a telehealth platform, network upgrades, and laptop computers to provide medical, dental, behavioral health, and other distanced care services to low-income and agricultural worker populations in Central Washington in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was awarded $443,417 for laptop computers, tablets, a telehealth platform, videoconferencing equipment and software, mobile hotspots, remote monitoring equipment, and network upgrades to sustain access to healthcare for patients of ten health care facilities that serve remote, rural, and underserved populations across North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, including many communities that otherwise would have no local health care.

• Community Mental Health Center, in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, was awarded $65,142 for laptop computers, videoconferencing software, and network upgrades to maintain continuity of behavioral health care to existing and new patients by staff working remotely with patients.

• The Connecticut Hospice, in Branford, Connecticut, was awarded $312,572 for desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, telemedicine carts, a telehealth platform, videoconferencing equipment and software, and network upgrades that will allow staff to engage in telehealth visits from the hospice facility to the patient at the patient’s home, a skilled nursing facility or a hospital, and will allow patients to use the provided tablets with videoconferencing applications to visit with family.

• Crawford County Mental Health Center, in Pittsburg, Kansas, was awarded $19,669 for laptop computers and videoconferencing equipment and software to continue attending to the behavioral health needs of severe and persistently mentally ill adults and adolescent patients.

• Creek Valley Health Clinic, in Colorado City, Arizona, was awarded $53,846 for tablets for both provider and patient use, remote monitoring and videoconferencing equipment such as pulse oximetry and blood pressure equipment, scales, video monitors to improve the clinic’s ability to offer virtual and telephonic services, two telemedicine kiosks for patient use, and network upgrades.

• Crescent Care, in New Orleans, Louisiana, was awarded $242,209 for smartphones for providers and patients to conduct telehealth visits, tablets, mobile hotspots, and other videoconferencing equipment that will assist in monitoring patients at home who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as those with pre-existing disease conditions that place them at high risk for COVID-19 complications, and network upgrades to accommodate the increased reliance on telehealth.

• Decatur County Memorial Hospital, in Greensburg, Indiana, was awarded $698,603 for remote patient monitoring equipment, a patient telehealth platform, network upgrades, tablets, and mobile hotspots to provide a variety of telehealth options, including remote patient visits to reach a wide range of patients, rehabilitation assessments using telehealth for physical, occupational and speech therapies, behavioral health services for seniors in individual and group sessions, and continuous remote monitoring of patients stable enough to be cared for in the home setting but showing symptoms of COVID-19 infection.

• Easter Seals Michigan, in Auburn Hills, Michigan, was awarded $110,577 for tablets, smartphones, and a telehealth platform to allow distanced face-to-face therapeutic services for individuals requiring mental health and substance abuse treatment.

• Families First, in Elizabethtown, New York, was awarded $26,997 for laptop computers, videoconferencing equipment and software, and smartphones to use telehealth services for home and community-based services and to treat child and family behavioral health patients also diagnosed with COVID-19.

• Family Connections, in East Orange, New Jersey, was awarded $347,358 for laptop computers for providers and patients, and a subscription to a telehealth platform application to provide patients ongoing care remotely with the clinic-provided laptops or with existing patient devices.

• Family Health Services of Darke County, in Greenville, Ohio, was awarded $438,547 for a remote patient monitoring platform, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, and mobile hotspots to deploy portable exam rooms that act as the eyes and ears of the provider at the patient’s location in nursing and assisted living homes in order to reduce contact and the risk of infection while still providing care to COVID-19 positive or symptomatic patients.

• Family Service League, in Huntington, New York, was awarded $239,346 for desktop and laptop computers, tablets, videoconferencing equipment and software, and a telehealth platform to expand remote treatment for behavioral health conditions, including mental health and addictive disorders, and for patients in crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Family Service Rochester, in Rochester, Minnesota, was awarded $13,234 for laptops, video monitors, mobile hotspots, and videoconferencing software to provide mental health counseling services via telehealth to patients in a six-county area.

• Geisinger Medical Center, in Danville, Pennsylvania, was awarded $978,935 for tablet computers, remote monitoring equipment, and telehealth platform licenses to maintain a high level of access to care by providing telehealth visits for primary care appointments and all 72 health care specialties within the medical center.

• Hackensack University Medical Center, in Hackensack, New Jersey, was awarded $973,055 for laptop computers, tablets, a telehealth platform, and remote monitoring equipment to provide behavioral health services in high-concentration COVID-19 hospitals, to ensure vulnerable and elderly patients can remain safe at home while receiving required medical treatment, and to protect patients in skilled nursing facilities through consistent monitoring.

• The Harris Center for Mental Health, in Houston, Texas, was awarded $836,243 for desktop and laptop computers, a telehealth platform, and videoconferencing equipment to enable providers and care coordinators to communicate with patients and to treat patients with behavioral health issues, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and chronic health conditions in a manner that mitigates the spread of COVID-19.

• Hudson Valley Regional Community Health Center, in Brewster, New York, was awarded $342,449 for telemedicine kiosks that will link patients and providers safely and, through which, using remotely administered diagnostic equipment, the provider can manage the triage response remotely as an alternative to an emergency department visit, can conduct a patient examination, and, if indicated, can refer the patient to a primary carephysician and arrange for patient transport to the hospital without a stop in the waiting room.

• Human Services Center, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, was awarded $28,768 for laptop computers and videoconferencing software so health care providers and employees can work remotely to continue treating patients.

• Icahn School of Medicine, in New York, New York, was awarded $923,487 for tablet computers, network upgrades, and a remote monitoring platform license to ensure that vulnerable cancer patients across all New York City boroughs remain connected to oncology clinicians via telehealth services, and that they receive medical care remotely, including help with disease management during the COVID-19 pandemic, without assuming the additional risk of coming into the hospital for routine care.

• Kheir Clinic, in Los Angeles, California, was awarded $45,132 for smartphones, videoconferencing equipment, a telehealth platform subscription, and telecommunications upgrades to establish video telehealth services and expand telephonic visits for primary care services, including chronic disease management, medication refills, and consultations for sick patients.

• Lawrence County Health Department, in Lawrenceville, Illinois, was awarded $37,308 for desktop and laptop computers, and a telehealth platform to increase the ability of providers to offer medical and mental health services remotely to individuals in the rural community.

• Life Challenge of Southeastern Michigan, in Detroit, Michigan, was awarded $47,605 for desktop computers, tablets, and telemedicine kiosks to provide, via telehealth classes, mentoring, counseling, and consultations for patients suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Maine Medical Center, in Portland, Maine, was awarded $803,268 for telemedicine carts, laptop computers, tablets, and videoconferencing equipment and software with which providers can conduct virtual rounding for inpatients, that will enable patients to see specialty care and primary care providers from the patient’s home, and so patients in the hospitals can use tablets to see and talk with family members who they otherwise cannot see due to the significant restrictions on visiting caused by the threat of COVID–19.

• Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, in New York, New York, was awarded $781,831 for telemedicine carts, tablets, remote monitoring equipment, and network upgrades to employ telehealth services to bridge the gap in continuity of carecaused by the COVID-19 pandemic for new patient consultations, follow-up visits, and other important appointments that maintain cancer care while decreasing the risk of spread of COVID-19 and to remotely manage cancer patients with COVID-19.

• Mental Health Association of Rockland, in Valley Cottage, New York, was awarded $69,636 for laptop computers and videoconferencing software to offer behavioral health treatment, such as mental health and substance abuse services, psychiatric assessments, medication management, and counseling.

• Monongalia County General Hospital, in Morgantown, West Virginia, was awarded $283,396 to implement a telehealth platform that will help provide the full spectrum of telehealth visits for patients, including COVID-19 screening and diagnosis, medication management, chronic disease management, and behavioral health visits.

• Norman Regional Hospital, in Norman, Oklahoma, was awarded $915,862 for telemedicine carts, remote monitoring equipment and software, and tablets that will allow providers to conduct virtual visits, to use the carts to virtually consult with patients in emergency departments and all inpatient units, and will permit patients to transmit to the providers essential clinical data to make informed decisions with a patient and help keep that patient out of high-risk clinical settings where they may be exposed to COVID-19.

• Ne Ia Shing Clinic, in Onamia, Minnesota, was awarded $350,679 for laptop computers, telemedicine carts, videoconferencing equipment, and network upgrades to implement telehealth capabilities for a variety of medical services, including family practice services, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, and dental care for patients in the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

• New York Presbyterian-Queens, in Flushing, New York, was awarded $1,000,000 for tablets and telemedicine carts to provide specialty care to a greater number of patients, remote monitoring kits with pulse oximeters and oxygen concentrators to allow safe discharge of patients with continued home monitoring and telehealth platforms that can connect patients with urgent care, primary care and specialty providers from home, including allowing patients who may have COVID-19 symptoms to first connect with a provider virtually.

• OhioGuidestone, in Cleveland, Ohio, was awarded $620,736 for a telehealth platform license, computers, tablets, videoconferencing equipment, and telemedicine carts to assist with the transition to remote behavioral health care by lending tablets to patients for sessions and providing devices to mental health professionals to conduct services from their homes.

• The Osborne Family Health Center, in Camden, New Jersey, was awarded $204,603 for desktop and laptop computers, remote monitoring equipment, and a telehealth virtual visit platform to increase access to medical care to a low-income population and to provide behavioral health treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Pacific Clinics East, in Monrovia, California, was awarded $254,524 for laptop computers, smartphones, and videoconferencing equipment and software that will be integral in the remote provision of behavioral health services and will be used by mental health practitioners to connect with clients and provide care with allowable video conferencing technologies.

• Pastoral Counseling Service of Summit County, in Akron, Ohio, was awarded $33,961 for laptop computers, smartphones, mobile hotspots, and a telehealth platform to provide technology for staff to operate fully remotely using telehealth, laptops and hotspots for patients who lack access to a device that will allow for telehealth participation, and staff access to a telehealth platform that can be safely used during the COVID-19 pandemic and after to conduct remote mental health treatment for children and adults.

• Pinebrook Family Answers, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, was awarded $9,243 for laptop computers and videoconferencing equipment and licenses to offer remotely an array of outpatient psychiatric and counseling services in four clinics for children and adults in the Greater Lehigh Valley Region.

• Plains Area Mental Health Center, in Carroll, Iowa, was awarded $107,180 for laptop computers and tablets so health care providers can continue to serve patients in rural areas to minimize disruption to care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• ProMedica Health System, in Toledo, Ohio, was awarded $707,298 for telemedicine carts, remote monitoring equipment, and videoconferencing software to provide the option of telehealth visits for patients in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure clinician safety.

• Salem Home, in Hillsboro, Kansas, was awarded $16,079 for tablets and network upgrades to treat residents and, using telehealth, maintain resident health through routine physician visits.

• San Fernando Community Health Center, in San Fernando, California, was awarded $112,244 for laptop computers, tablets, and network upgrades that will support telehealth exams for patients at home, as well as remote monitoring equipment to assess blood glucose levels, blood pressure, weight, and physical activity, the data from which will be delivered to the patient-issued tablet and uploaded to their medical records.

• Sayre Health Center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was awarded $112,926 for computers, video monitors, and network upgrades to improve telehealth capabilities and provide comprehensive primary care and behavioral health services to patients affected by COVID-19.

• Sisters of Charity Leavenworth Health System, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, was awarded $730,008 for smartphones, tablets, videoconferencing equipment, and various monitoring and telehealth platforms and applications with which providers can remotely assess COVID-19 patients, conduct remote monitoring for high-risk patients by using specially configured technology kits, offer patients access to medical care and opinions from providers anywhere, and educate people and answer questions about COVID-19.

• St. Vincent Center, in Chicago, Illinois, was awarded $126,442 for laptop computers, smartphones, videoconferencing software, and network upgrades that will increase its capacity to provide remote mental health and substance abuse services via secure telehealth platforms with staff and counselors conducting individual and group behavioral health sessions.

• Stephen F. Austin Community Health Center, in Alvin, Texas, was awarded $71,131 for a telehealth patient portal, videoconferencing software, and remote patient monitoring equipment to use virtual visits, and to enhance its patient portal to provide primary medical services, COVID-19 health screenings, and mental health services.

• Stony Brook University Hospital, in Stony Brook, New York, was awarded $966,026 for tablets, smartphones, a telehealth platform subscription, and remote monitoring equipment and a platform to provide remote, ongoing care for high-risk patients, to allow enhanced virtual visits for patients using a telehealth platform, to provide safe and effective hospital triage, to increase the number of remote consults with tablet computers, and to improve access to care by distributing smartphones to patients in need.

• Tri County’s Family Medicine Program, in Dansville, New York, was awarded $60,009 for laptop computers, tablets, and a telehealth platform subscription to undertake virtual visits for existing and new patients who are unable to attend the clinic because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Tuscola County Health Department, in Caro, Michigan, was awarded $9,015 for laptop computers and tablets to offer remote consults and communications with patients while keeping providers and patients distanced and safe from exposure to COVID-19.

• United Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., was awarded $535,481 for telemedicine carts, telecommunications upgrades, and network upgrades to provide patient consultation and care with video visits, remote triage, remote visitation, and ongoing patient monitoring to safely assess care and treatment levels for patients.

• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, in Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $940,693 for remote patient monitoring equipment, tablets, smartphones, and videoconferencing equipment to screen for COVID-19 through an online portal and with a mobile triage unit, offer telehealth visits and medical communication between providers and patients, and to deliver medical advice and information over live, videoconferencing systems to providers and nurses across the state.

• University of Connecticut Health Center, in Farmington, Connecticut, was awarded $135,707 for laptop computers, tablets, and videoconferencing equipment and software to use telehealth services for remote outpatient visits for both primary and specialty care, including patients with COVID-19 symptoms and other high-risk patients.

• University of Florida Department of Pediatrics, in Gainesville, Florida, was awarded $967,957 for tablets, remote monitoring and diagnostic equipment and software, a telehealth platform, and videoconferencing equipment and software to offer direct communication to and from providers and patients, to deploy telemedicine kits to patients containing a connected device and, depending on the patient’s specific medical conditions, other monitoring items needed to optimize care, and to provide safe and effective remote care to children with an array of disorders that require specialized providers and careduring the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

• University of Virginia Health System, in Charlottesville, Virginia, was awarded $767,139 for telemedicine carts, tablets, video monitors, a telehealth platform, remote patient monitoring equipment, and network upgrades to support clinical videoconferencing with remote patient examination tools, to help build a virtual urgent care platform, and to expand remote patient monitoring program as patients are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are discharged from the hospital.

• UPMC Magee Women’s Hospital, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was awarded $4,220 for smartphones, data plans, and remote monitoring applications to provide to COVID-19 and other patients to extend ongoing care and monitoring to the patient home and reduce the need to travel for medical visits.

• UPMC Mercy, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was awarded $10,029 for smartphones with remote monitoring software to provide to patients treated at outlying and rural area hospitals.

• UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was awarded $540,410 for laptop computers, network upgrades, a videoconferencing license, and smartphones to enable providers to conduct telehealth visits, including radiologist physicians who can connect at a high speed directly to the UPMC network to view and evaluate x-rays and to provide interpretation services remotely during the COVID-19 crisis.

• Utah Navajo Health System, in Montezuma Creek, Utah, was awarded $232,009 for laptop computers and network upgrades to provide comprehensive health care services using telehealth, including medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, by providing connected laptops to patients in Montezuma Creek, Monument Valley, Navajo Mountain, Blanding and surrounding communities.

• UTMB Health, in Galveston, Texas, was awarded $24,690 for a telehealth platform to triage patients towards specific clinic locations that can diagnose and treating COVID-19 and to provide virtual care for at-risk patient populations such as in the geriatric, obstetrics, and pediatric clinics.

• Youth Development Clinic of Newark, in Newark, New Jersey, was awarded $9,250 for laptop computers and tablets to provide video-based mental health and crisis mental health services to children, families, and parents, including by providing tablets to adult clients without access to telehealth services that will operate on the city of Newark’s free Wi-Fi services.

To learn more about the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program and view a complete list of funding recipients to date, visit https://www.fcc.gov/covid19telehealth.  To learn more about the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected Initiative, visit https://www.fcc.gov/keepamericansconnected.