HARRISBURG — The Port Allegany School District in McKean County will receive a USDA Rural Development grant aimed at helping people in rural Pennsylvania access health care resources.
State Director Bob Morgan announced $599,382 for the district to equip two hub sites and two end-user sites throughout McKean, Warren and Potter counties with video conferencing equipment. Counselors at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and Northern Pennsylvania Regional College will deliver mental health care to two locations benefitting 507 individuals.
In addition to mental health care services, instructors at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and Northern Pennsylvania Regional College will provide STEM education through coding classes benefiting the same individuals.
Morgan announced that Cen-Clear Child Services Inc. in Blair County will be awarded $150,863 to equip one hub site and seven end-user sites throughout Elk, Centre, Huntingdon, Clearfield, Blair, and Mifflin counties in central Pennsylvania with interactive telehealth equipment. Medical professionals at Cen-Clear Child Services Inc. will deliver mental health care/psychiatric services and substance/opioid use disorder treatments with medication-assisted treatments to seven locations benefitting 7,435 individuals.
“Education and health care are vital pillars to sustaining and improving the quality of life in our rural communities,” Morgan said. “The USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine program allows rural Pennsylvanians the capital necessary to ensure their students, teachers, patients, and health care professionals have the technology necessary to stay connected virtually.”
Rural Development’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants help fund real-time, interactive distance learning and telemedicine services in rural and tribal areas to increase access to education, training and health care resources that are otherwise limited or unavailable. This effort is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal that every American has access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet. Digital equity is an important component of that mission. For instance, the DLT program gives students the opportunity to participate in classes virtually. DLT funds can also help connect rural people virtually to medical professionals without leaving their home.
In total, Rural Development is investing $4,742,260 to seven projects in Pennsylvania through its DLT grant program.
