Under the guidance of our Director of Research and Analytics, Dr. Tana Motyka, l am pleased to report that Covenant Health Network has successfully secured an additional federal FCC grant, in the amount of $680,000, for obtaining and maintaining additional Telehealth equipment and monitoring, for four Covenant campuses that agreed to serve as pilot sites in this initiative. With adequate direct care staffing continuing to be an ongoing problem for post-acute care providers, telehealth offers cost- efficient adjunct to mitigate labor shortages; particularly for facilities located in rural areas.
Previously, our Research Dept. was able to secure an initial $380,000 in federal grant assistance to expand PAC providers technology and telehealth capabilities, for a total grant capture now of over $1 million in new funding.
Telehealth grants can enhance our members’ care management efforts in such areas as off-hours medical assessments, early detection of material resident changes in condition, improving the air exchange systems within facilities, and preventing the easy spread of respiratory borne viruses such as COVID.
Covenant is currently working to expand the availability of telemonitoring equipment and systems, beyond the pilot facility group, so that our entire network has expanded tools to identify and prevent the progression of adverse resident medical events.
Covenant members interested in participating in future funding opportunities should notify the CHN staff, so if the FCC grant program is extended and expanded, or other grant opportunities open up, we have a waiting list of willing campus participants.
We are grateful to the pilot sites for their willingness to push the envelope in the care management arena, and to our Research Dept. for an extensive labor effort that resulted in the successful securing of these funds.