Trump Administration Invests $996,000 in Opioid & Health Care Access in 10 Rural Wisconsin & Two Michigan Counties

STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin, Oct. 8 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development - Wisconsin office issued the following news release:

Wisconsin Rural Development State Director Frank Frassetto announced that the USDA is investing $72 million in grants to help rural residents gain access to health care and educational opportunities. These investments will benefit more than 12 million rural residents.

"Access to telemedicine makes it easier for thousands of rural residents to take advantage of health care opportunities without having to travel long distances or be among large groups of people. We are excited to partner with HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and assist the residents in their service area," Frassetto said. "Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Perdue, we have been working tirelessly to be a strong partner to rural Wisconsin in building stronger and healthier communities, because we know when rural America thrives, all of America thrives."

In Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, HSHS St. Vincent Hospital is receiving a $996,000 grant to address the problems of rural health professional shortages, particularly opioid and substance use disorder (OUD/SUD) clinicians and behavioral health specialists, lack of patient access to acute hospital (critical and emergency department) and non-acute (outpatient clinic) care. The 13 hub/end user sites will provide emergency and treatment services for opioid/substance use disorders across Barron, Brown, Buffalo, Chippewa, Door, Eau Claire, Oconto, Rusk, Trempealeau and Washburn counties in western and eastern Wisconsin and Delta and Dickinson counties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

USDA is funding 116 projects through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program. The program helps health care and education institutions buy the equipment and software necessary to deploy distance-learning and telemedicine services to rural residents.