HHSC expands pediatric telehealth services to four rural hospitals

By

Eli Kirshbaum

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The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is awarding more than $531,000 in grants to four rural Texas hospitals to expand telehealth services for children.

The grants will help the hospitals expand or implement telehealth services that connect their patients with pediatric specialists and subspecialists through video chats and phone calls.

“The pandemic has really highlighted how important these services are, especially in rural communities, and we are proud to be a part of expanding telehealth to give more Texas children and youth better access to specialty care without requiring their families to travel,” said Stephanie Stephens, HHS state Medicaid director.

HHSC is awarding the grants to Lake Granbury Medical Center (Granbury), Navarro Regional Hospital (Corsicana), Terry Memorial Hospital/Brownfield Regional Medical Center (Brownfield) and Titus County Hospital (Mount Pleasant). Each of the four hospitals submitted telehealth expansion plans to HHSC and were awarded funding based on the technology, equipment and supplies needed to implement their projects. Texans in more than 25 counties will benefit from the expansion.

The funding is part of an HHSC grant program that was created in 2017 by the 85th Texas Legislature to establish and administer a tele-connectivity resource program for children’s health in rural Texas.

This press release was provided by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.