Collins, King announce more than $500,000 to improve rural healthcare

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens Susan Collins, R-Maine and Angus King, I-Maine announced that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services is being awarded grant funding to help improve rural healthcare. The Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program award, totaling $504,176, will support Critical Access Hospitals in quality improvement, and establish or expand rural health emergency medical services. The program is funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Critical Access Hospitals are designations given to eligible rural hospitals by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CAH designation was created in 1997 in response to over 400 rural hospital closures during the 1980s and early 1990s. Maine has 16 CAHs located across the state including Northern Light CA Dean Hospital in Greenville and Northern Light Mayo Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft.

“As one of the most rural states in the nation, Maine people already face many challenges when accessing affordable, quality healthcare,” said Collins and King. “This grant will help our rural healthcare systems provide better care, and work to ensure we do not lose these critical facilities and services to preventable closures. We welcome this funding and are grateful for the continued federal support to help keep Maine people safe and healthy. By investing in the health and well-being of our rural communities, we are making an investment in the future of Maine.”

Collins and King have been staunch supporters of bolstering rural healthcare across Maine. Last summer, they joined bipartisan legislation to expand telehealth access through Medicare, making it easier for patients to connect with their providers. They also have advocated on behalf of rural seniors’ access to care and introduced the Protecting Rural Seniors’ Access to Care Act.