U.S. Senator Susan Collins today announced that the Rural Western and Central Maine Broadband Initiative, a collaboration of the Franklin Community Health Network, the HealthReach Community Health Centers, and Central Maine Healthcare, will receive $3,601,326 in grant funding from the Federal Communications Commission. The two-year funding will be used to help provide high-speed internet communications to the large, rural population in central and western Maine. The funding is part of the FCC’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program.
“Maine has the lowest rate in New England for households with Internet access, and the area of western and central Maine is particularly underserved,” said Senator Collins. “Extending access to communities that are otherwise technologically isolated opens up a world of information, resources and services. This information is particularly beneficial to providing quality health care in the region as providers and patients are increasingly reliant upon Internet communications.”
In April 2007, Senator Collins wrote a letter to FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin, in support of this project.
The FCC’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program will support the connection of more than 6,000 public and non-profit health care providers nationwide to broadband telehealth networks. The health care facilities participating in the Pilot Program include: hospitals, clinics, universities and research centers, behavioral health sites, correctional facility clinics, and community health centers.
###