Mercy Watonga Part of Grant Award for Rural Health

OKLAHOMA CITY — The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded more than $1.9 million to help fund capital projects at Mercy hospitals in three rural Oklahoma communities. The costsharing grants will provide supplemental funding for new technology that will directly impact patient care in Ada, Tishomingo and Watonga.

Hospitals and health care providers in 39 states were selected to receive $129 million in one-time emergency rural health care grants to improve health care facilities across the country. Mercy, which proudly serves 15 rural Oklahoma communities, was one of 13 organizations in Oklahoma to receive the funding.

The challenges of health care economics due to overall inflation, increased costs, labor shortages, reimbursement rates, etc., have been widely reported. According to the latest data from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, 300 hospitals nationwide are at immediate risk of closing. Funding construction projects and paying for new technology is a challenge for hospitals across the country.

Grant dollars are essential to continuing Mercy’s mission across Oklahoma.

“Every dollar of these grants will go directly into patient care so we can provide the latest technology for patients seeking care in these communities,” said Jim Gebhart, community president of Mercy in Oklahoma. “We are so thankful to be chosen as a recipient.”

The awards were granted on a cost-sharing basis, meaning Mercy will invest a percentage of the cost of each of these projects with the grant money used to close the funding gap.

The following projects will be completed with the funding: Mercy Hospital Watonga was granted almost $63,000, which it will use for a new x-ray machine, while Mercy Hospital Ada walked away with $1 million. Those grant dol Mercy Hospital Watonga was granted almost $63,000, which it will use for a new x-ray machine, while Mercy Hospital Ada walked away with $1 million. Those grant dollars will go toward a CCT scanner, new MRI equipment, nuclear medicine equipment and additional inpatient oxygen tanks. At Mercy Hospital Tishomingo, which received $890,670, there will be new x-ray and CT scanner equipment, lab equipment, nurse document stations, vital sign machines and a patient lift system.

Mercy received USDA grants designated for rural health care in 2019. Mercy Hospital Healdton and Mercy Hospital Kingfisher were awarded telemedicine grants to expand virtual care options in these communities.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Oklahoma State Director, Kenneth Corn, announced the grants totaling more than $4.6 million to assist 12 communities expand access to healthcare as part of the Investing in America agenda.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has delivered for Rural Oklahoma when it comes to ensuring our small rural towns and tribal communities can have access to safe and reliable healthcare,” Corn said. “USDA’s Emergency Rural Health Care Grants program has played a key role in strengthening rural Oklahoma’s health care infrastructure and building capacity for the future.”

USDA has awarded $129 million in Emergency Rural Health Care Grants to improve health care facilities in rural towns across the nation. These grants will help 172 rural health care organizations expand critical services.

These investments will help regional partnerships, public bodies, nonprofits and Tribes solve regional rural health care challenges. These solutions will build a stronger, more sustainable rural health care system for the nation’s small towns and communities.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how vital it is to invest in rural healthcare,” Corn said. “I am thankful that under the leadership of President Biden we are delivering real results for rural Oklahomans that are making an impact today and in the future for better health outcomes in our communities.”

This funding is made possible by Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act. The Act and this program are examples of the government’s ability to respond quickly to ensure every person and family has access to high-quality health care.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. The USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.