CONGRESSMAN BISHOP ANNOUNCES $7.2 MILLION FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE CENTERS IN MIDDLE & SOUTHWEST GEORGIA

April 5, 2023
Press Release
ALBANY, GA – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (GA-02) announced three federal awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) totaling $7.2 million to Primary Care of Southwest Georgia, Inc. ($3,719,263), First Choice Primary Care, Inc. ($3,050,601), and Albany Area Primary Health Care, Inc ($500,000). These awards will help to improve and expand healthcare services for the people of Blakely, Macon, and Albany, Georgia, and surrounding areas.
"Making sure that people have access to affordable healthcare close to home is one of my top priorities – especially for rural and underserved communities that are also often financially strained and cope with higher rates of chronic illnesses. Primary care is the first step towards maintaining good health, diagnosing illnesses, and connecting patients to specialists who can treat them," said Congressman Bishop. "When people have healthcare closer to home, they are more likely to seek and stick to treatments which keep them healthy and are less costly in the long run. That has downstream effects on our communities with children being in a better position to learn, healthier adults in our workforce, and decreasing the likely burden on hospitals and programs like Medicaid and Medicare to treat otherwise preventable health problems."
These federal awards were made possible by the Health Center Cluster Program and the Teach Health Center Planning and Development Program.
The Health Center Cluster Program helps to provide financial assistance to Health Centers so they can continue offering comprehensive services in underserved communities, while the Teaching Health Center Planning and Development (THCPD) Program supports the development of new accredited primary care residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine-pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and geriatrics to address the physician workforce shortages and challenges faced by rural and underserved communities.
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Issues:Healthcare