Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program - Applicant: Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach 600 Jefferson Avenue Memphis, TN 38105 Entity Type: Hospital-affiliated nonprofit https://www.methodisthealth.org/healthcare-services/community-outreach/ Project Director: Joshua Scales, Project Director/Technical Consultant 615-933-8856 jscales@unitihealth.io Network Project Title: GrowWell Telehealth Network: A Plan for Growth Legislative Aims: Project activities support the legislative aims of i) achieving efficiencies, ii) expanding access to, coordinating, and improving the quality of basic health care services, and iii) strengthening the rural health care system. Focus Area: The goals of this project are 1) To explore the feasibility and benefits of membership in the GrowWell TN Network for Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and its affiliated specialty clinics; and 2) to examine the feasibility and benefit of the Grow Well TN Network providing clinical monitoring services for Remote Patient Monitoring programs. Proposed Service Region: The West Tennessee service region includes 19 whole counties and one county (*) where only one rural census tract (listed here) will receive services: Benton, Carroll, Chester, Decatur, Dyer, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison* (47113001608), McNairy, Obion, Tipton, Weakley and Crockett. Abstract Body Content Population to be Served: The population to be served includes children, adults and families in the 19-county rural West Tennessee Service region for the GrowWell Tennessee Network. There are significant health disparities in West Tennessee due to poverty and lack of access to preventive healthcare contributing to a high prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Underserved populations have numerous health care access barriers, including limited availability of providers, long travel distances to specialists, and time constraints due to employment demands and appointment availability Network Members: The applicant agency, Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach is a health care entity as are three other Network members: Henry County Medical Center, Hardeman County Community Health Center, and Hardin County Community Health Center. Two Network members are local school districts: Hardeman County Board of Education and Haywood County Schools. MLCO and the Network attest that at least 66% of the network members with signed Letters of Commitment for the proposed project are physically located in a HRSA-designated rural area. Network members have made a commitment to integrating their telehealth services and are moving towards sharing of clinical and administrative resources. Experience and Capacity for Serving Rural Underserved Populations: MLCO has served rural schools in West Tennessee for more than 20 years and is the lead applicant. The other Network members include a rural hospital and two Federally Qualified Health Centers which are well-established in the region. The two school districts likewise have long experience serving their communities. The GrowWell TN Network partners have collaborated and provided services to the region for more than ten years. How Populations Served Will Benefit and Be involved in the Network: Patients will potentially benefit by improved access to specialty care services via telehealth from Le Bonheur as well as by RPM services through the Network and its members. The project will conduct extensive patient surveys to identify patient preferences and vehicles by which they can be involved in the Network. Funding Opportunity Notification: Applicant was notified of the opportunity through Grants.gov. Funding Preference: The applicant requests a funding preference based on 18 counties that qualify as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) for primary care. One of these counties (Lauderdale) is a high need geographic HPSA; one (Hardeman) is a geographic HPSA; and 16 counties are low-income population HPSAs. See Attachment 8.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).