Nearly $4M investment positions UMMC to strengthen rural health care

Nearly $4M investment positions UMMC to strengthen rural health care

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has received nearly $4 million to support projects aimed at improving health care access and delivery across Mississippi.

The funding, awarded through the Mississippi Rural Health Transformation Program, will support three UMMC initiatives focused on strengthening rural health care infrastructure, expanding the use of health data and using technology to monitor patients beyond traditional hospital and clinic settings.

Governor Tate Reeves announced the awards as part of Mississippi's $205.9 million first-year implementation budget, funded through a federal investment authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The funding is part of a five-year effort through the Rural Health Transformation Program to strengthen health care in rural communities.

"We set out to transform how rural Mississippians access care - bringing more services closer to home, strengthening the providers and facilities that rural communities depend on, and using technology and innovation to better connect patients to care across our state," Reeves said. "Today, we are beginning to see that vision become reality."

"These investments give UMMC an opportunity to address some of the challenges facing rural health care from several different directions," said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs.

"Whether we are strengthening infrastructure, using data to better understand the needs of rural communities or expanding technology that allows us to care for patients beyond the walls of a hospital or clinic, the goal is the same: to improve access to high-quality care for Mississippians, no matter where they live."

The largest of UMMC's three awards, $3 million, will support modernization of hospital infrastructure at UMMC Greenwood and help expand the hospital's capacity for future surgical and post-acute care.

The Greenwood project is part of the Mississippi Rural Capital Project Care Gap Closure Grant Program, which supports projects designed to address gaps in health care services in rural communities.

UMMC also received $826,256 through the Rural Provider Technology Grant Program to create a shared, cloud-based analytics and reporting platform for participating rural hospitals.

The platform will provide participating hospitals with a common model for analyzing and reporting data, giving health care leaders greater insight into how patients access and use health care services. The project will also establish a sustainable data infrastructure to help identify health care needs and support efforts to improve access and outcomes for rural Mississippians.

A third award of $149,100 will support AI-enabled remote patient monitoring for chronic disease and maternal health.

The project will integrate information collected through patient monitoring devices with patients' electronic health records, giving health care teams access to health information collected outside traditional clinical settings. The technology is intended to support remote monitoring of patients with chronic conditions and those receiving maternal health care.

The project is funded through the Telehealth Hub Connectivity, Equipment and Education Grant Program.

Together, the three projects represent different approaches to strengthening rural health care in Mississippi - from modernizing hospital infrastructure and expanding future services to improving access to health data and using technology to connect patients with their care teams beyond hospital and clinic walls.

The awards are among the first invest