Medical facilities in eastern Kentucky are receiving a financial boost. $4.4-million-dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act will be distributed to rural hospitals and clinics in the region. A smaller allocation will be used to set up a COVID-19 vaccine campaign in Clay County. The money is being distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Tom Carew is the Kentucky state director of Rural Development for the U.S.D.A. He said the pandemic was hard for those in rural areas.
“Small rural hospitals were heavily impacted by COVID-19. This is all part of the package that Congress passed to help cover the cost of these hospitals to continue operates and provide quality healthcare in the region,” Carew said.
He added that much of the money will go towards upgrading hospitals in rural eastern Kentucky.
“The funds are being used to improve the physical facilities of all the hospitals awarded funding under the program. Baptist Health is looking to improve equipment they use to provide healthcare in their region. The same with St. Claire and the same with Memorial Hospital.”
Carew says besides medical facilities, God’s Pantry Food Bank is receiving $585-thousand dollars under this wave of grants. That organization helps feed people in 16 rural counties in central and eastern Kentucky.
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