FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/b> <\/p>\n
May 12, 2020<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
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Udall, Heinrich Applaud Nearly $1 Million CARES Act FCC Telehealth Grant for Navajo Nation<\/u><\/b> <\/u><\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
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Senators urge the federal government to send more resources to Tribal communities hard-hit by COVID-19<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
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WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.)<\/b> and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) <\/b>announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau approved $954,990 <\/b>to the Navajo Nation Department of Health for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The FCC\u2019s COVID-19 Telehealth Program The funding will be used to provide home healthcare and remote monitoring services throughout Navajo Nation to patients who are isolated and under shelter-in-place orders, including low-income, elderly, vulnerable, and high-risk patients. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the vital importance of affordable broadband services to Tribal communities for health care, distance learning, and teleworking. Earlier this year, Senators Udall and Heinrich introduced the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act<\/a><\/i> to accelerate the deployment of broadband services to Native communities and bridge the digital divide facing Native communities. <\/u><\/u><\/p>\n \u201cTribal communities, and other rural populations in New Mexico, have suffered tremendously because of the COVID-19 pandemic and our rural health care providers and other frontline workers continue to act as the lifelines for Tribal, rural, and high-risk patients,\u201d said Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. <\/b>\u201cThis grant is a step in the right direction, but I will be fighting to secure further telehealth resources and expand broadband access throughout the Navajo Nation and Indian Country so that Native communities have access to quality health care services. As we return to Washington, I will be fighting for Tribal communities and New Mexico communities to have greater access to broadband services to minimize public health disparities.\u201d<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n \u201cThe Navajo Nation is experiencing severe and disproportionate outbreaks of the coronavirus,\u201d said Heinrich.<\/b> \u201cWe must do everything we can to bring lifesaving health care to those who need it, particularly those living in remote reservation communities. I\u2019m proud to support this critical funding from the CARES Act that will allow health care providers to treat hard-to-reach patients on the Navajo Nation. As Indian Country continues to face immense challenges confronting this pandemic, I remain committed to fighting for all the funding and resources that tribes need to support a public health response that is rooted in science and a strong long-term recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.)\u00a0and\u00a0Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)\u00a0announced\u00a0that the Federal Communications Commission\u00a0(FCC)\u00a0Wireline Competition Bureau approved\u00a0$954,990\u00a0to the Navajo Nation Department of Health for the COVID-19\u00a0Telehealth\u00a0Program<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[18,390,477,243,8,10,17,15],"class_list":["post-4784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-institutions","tag-116th","tag-cares-act","tag-fcc","tag-martin-heinrich","tag-navajo","tag-new-mexico","tag-senate","tag-tom-udall"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4784"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4786,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4784\/revisions\/4786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}