Local health care organizations receive millions in grants to expand services
Regional One Health, Shelby County’s public hospital, was awarded $1.6 million for its Maternal ONE Mom Obstetric Care Program. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Five local organizations are among the 54 first-round award recipients of a $230 million statewide program to expand health care services.
Baptist Memorial Hospital, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Regional One Health, Porter-Leath and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center received grants from the Tennessee Department of Health’s Healthcare Resiliency Program.
Tennessee, where residents suffer from high rates of chronic conditions, ranks 41st in health outcomes, according to America’s Health Rankings Report from the United Health Foundation.
“This is a generational investment to make quality health care available to Tennesseans for years to come,” Gov. Bill Lee said. “As we focus these grants on projects that improve access to health care services for our low-income, minority and rural populations, we also ensure Tennessee continues to lead in health care for all.”
The Healthcare Resiliency Program is funded through the American Rescue Plan, passed by Congress in March 2022.
Tennessee received $3.9 billion through the plan, and the state’s Financial Stimulus Accountability Group dedicated $230 million in recovery funding to the health department for health care modernization and transformation projects.
The Tennessee Health Department reviews applications and administers the grants, which will be used to expand patient capacity, improve access and upgrade practices and technology.
To increase capacity for adult and pediatric intensive care units and floor beds, the state health department sought project proposals for capital investment grants from Tennessee’s acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities.
The program also made practice transformation and extension grants available to hospitals, long-term care facilities, primary care providers and health care programs at academic institutions, as well as to organizations addressing health-related issues such as housing and food insecurity.
“Our latest Health Needs Assessment highlighted heart disease and cancer as the top two causes of death in our area,” said Michael Ugwueke, president and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, which was awarded a $4.1 million capital investment grant and $3 million in practice transformation and extension grants for its chronic disease education program.
“These grants will further our commitment to provide the highest quality and safest care to our critically ill patients, as well as enhance our extensive community education efforts around chronic illnesses,” he said. “Everyone in our community deserves the opportunity to improve their health and live a longer life.”
Baptist Memorial Hospital was awarded $5.5 million in capital investment grants and $3.6 million in practice transformation and extension grants for its virtual care program in Shelby, Tipton, Carroll and Obion counties.
“The Practice Transformation and Extension Grant and the Capital Grant will allow us to expand our capacity to deliver quality health care services within our metropolitan and rural hospitals, from Memphis to Union City,” said Zach Chandler, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Baptist Memorial Health Care.
“By adding beds, updating technology and expanding our virtual TeleHealth services, these funds will help us advance quality care and provide greater access to care in Tennessee,” he said.
Regional One Health, Shelby County’s public hospital, was awarded $1.6 million for its Maternal ONE Mom Obstetric Care Program.
UTHSC was awarded $1 million for a statewide project titled TN-POPnet: Connecting Rural Tennesseans to Care, and the University of Tennessee — Shelby County was awarded $2.8 million for a project called Enriching Cancer Care Access in Tennessee.
Porter-Leath, a nonprofit focused on Memphis children and families, was awarded $2.5 million for its Early Success Coalition Healthcare Resiliency Program.
“The award will allow us to place Family Outreach Workers in partnering OBGYN clinics to provide care coordination services that address social determinants of health for pregnant women, in hopes of reducing rates of infant and maternal mortality and improving rates of healthy births,” said Kellie Spilman, director of Early Success Coalition at Porter-Leath.
“By addressing the full social and emotional needs of expecting parents, healthcare providers can work with birthing parents to ensure optimal health outcomes,” she said.
Other local grant recipients include long-term care facilities. Trezevant Episcopal Home was granted $1.9 million and The Bay at Highlands Health and Rehabilitation Center was awarded $200,000.
And ClearView Healthcare Management was awarded $400,00 for its mobile vaccination clinic, which serves Shelby, Blount, Hamilton, Loudon, Macon and Smith counties.
The Tennessee Department of Health said it is continuing to evaluate Healthcare Resiliency Program applicants and projects and expects to announce a second round of awards in the coming weeks.
Topics
Tennessee Department of Health Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis Porter-Leath UTHSC Regional One Health Subscriber OnlyAre you enjoying your subscription?
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Aisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki covers health care, banking and finance, technology and professions. After launching her career in news two decades ago, she worked in public relations for almost a decade before returning to journalism in 2022.
As a health care reporter, she’s collaborated with The Carter Center, earned awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists and won a 2024 Tennessee Press Association first-place prize for her series on discrepancies in Shelby County life expectancy by ZIP code.
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