CONGRESSMAN BISHOP PRESENTS $2 MILLION CHECK TO AUGUSTA UNIVERITY’S SOUTHWEST CAMPUS OF THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GA TO HELP PROVIDE MORE PHYSICIANS TO RURAL AREAS

ALBANY, GA– Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) presented a ceremonial check to Augusta University's Southwest Campus of the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) representing the $2,000,000 in federal funding that the Congressman secured for the campus as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 funding bill. The Medical College of Georgia will use the funds to create a primary care workforce training hub that will help provide more physicians and medical professionals to work in and serve rural and underserved communities, particularly in Southwest Georgia.

"The Southwest Campus will become hub where medical students will be trained to address Georgia's health care challenges and gain valuable experience in the communities in which they are needed to serve," said Congressman Bishop. "One of my top priorities in Congress is to make sure our rural and underserved communities have the healthcare professionals, equipment, and facilities they need to ensure residents have all of their medical needs met at or as close to home as possible."

"We are extremely grateful to Congressman Bishop and his team for their continued support of the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and particularly our Southwest Campus," said Augusta University President Brooks A. Keel, PhD. "As Georgia's sole public academic medical center, MCG has a mission and a duty to serve the residents of this state. We want every Georgian, no matter where they live, to have access to high-quality health care provided by well-trained physicians."

"We're currently facing a crisis-level physician shortage throughout the nation, and the lack of providers in rural settings is especially acute. We share Congressman Bishop's commitment to Southwest Georgia and know how important it is to ensure this area has plenty of physicians in the future," said President Keel. "I'd like to again thank Congressman Bishop for his securement of $2 million to establish a primary care training hub here on MCG's Southwest Campus. This funding will allow us to continue training physicians who are dedicated to meeting the health care needs of Georgia and to helping decrease health disparities, both now and into the future, especially for the state's most underserved patients."

Congressman Bishop is a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives and leader on the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees federal discretionary spending. In addition to directing overall funding levels for federal departments, agencies, and programs – many of which operate or fund projects at the state and local level in Georgia and across the country – the Congressman was able to secure over $25 million in direct funding for several important projects in Middle and Southwest Georgia.

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Congressman Bishop led a successful effort to include $500 million to help rural hospitals across the United States. In August 2022, Crisp Regional Hospital received $1 million through this fund to help replace costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and help assure that the hospital will continue to operate and be accessible to the region's residents.

As part of the Fiscal Year 2022 federal funding bill, Congressman Bishop secured $1 million for Phoebe Putney Health Systems in Albany, Georgia, to purchase two mobile clinics and expand its Mobile Medical Units Program that serves Dougherty and its surrounding counties.

In the past three weeks, Congressman Bishop has presented funds to the cities of Colquitt, Donalsonville, and Bainbridge as well as the Golden Triangle Resource Conservation and Development Council in Dawson, the Boys and Girls Club of Albany, Inc., and the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission in Camilla to support essential, quality of life services in Southwest Georgia.

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