USDA Rural Development Grant Boosts Telehealth Services

USDA Rural Development grant will enable telehealth services and consultations throughout Minnesota

WILLMAR, Minn. March 1 – Steve Wenzel, Minnesota State Director for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), visited Woodland Centers today to award The Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs (MACMHP) with a $475,022 distance learning and telemedicine grant.

    The grant will help buy equipment to connect about 25 private, community-based non-profit mental health organizations and 80 sites throughout Minnesota with tele health services. The technology will improve access to direct services and enable consultations to occur between psychiatrists, physicians, clinicians and others needing services. Education services will also be provided using the equipment.

    “President Bush has crafted a rural policy that encourages investment in essential health services in rural communities,” added Steve Wenzel, State Director of USDA Rural Development in Minnesota. “This grant award to MACMHP will improve the quality of life and create economic opportunity in the rural communities it serves.”

    The grant is expected to improve services for up to 125,000 children, adults and families. USDA Rural Development awarded over $29 million for 79 projects in 36 states this year through its distance learning and telemedicine grant program. MACMHP is based in St. Paul, Minn.

    “We are delighted with the support for our vision for a compatible and connected statewide network of community providers committed to improving access to quality care, said Ron Brand, MACMHP Executive Director. “The grant will jump-start this first phase of our project and improve the providers’ service capacity.  This will be especially helpful for those living with depression or other serious mental health disorders in the often under-served rural communities.”

    USDA Rural Development aims to spur economic development and improve the quality of life in rural areas. The agency invests in Minnesota’s rural communities by providing funding for clean water, quality health care, renewable energy, high-speed Internet, emergency response, housing, and other infrastructure projects. Since 2001, USDA Rural Development has invested about $2.5 billion throughout Minnesota.

    For more information on USDA Rural Development, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/mn, or call the office in Willmar at (320) 235-3540.

Send mail to adam.czech@mn.usda.gov with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: November 01, 2007