MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a $340,725 grant under the Rural Health Transformation Program’s THRIVE VIRTUAL funding category to Le Bonheur Community Outreach on Thursday, August 27, at the Arkansas State Capitol. The funding will support telehealth upgrades and new diagnostic equipment at the Le Bonheur Outpatient Center located in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The new telehealth upgrades and diagnostic equipment will expand access to Level 2 fetal ultrasounds, EEG epileptology screenings and subspecialty consultations for families across Eastern and Northern Arkansas.
The grant will allow the outpatient center to serve patients from 21 Arkansas Counties; Baxter, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Lee, Marion, Mississippi, Phillips, Poinsett, Randolph, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone, and White. Currently, families needing these specialized assessments require traveling long distances to receive care. The grant will allow Le Bonheur to expand access to Level 2 fetal ultrasounds and EEGs, while strengthening care coordination between local providers and Le Bonheur specialists.
“This investment will bring critical diagnostic services closer to home for families in Eastern Arkansas who have long faced significant barriers to specialty pediatric and maternal-fetal care,” said Dr. Trey Eubanks, President of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. “By reducing the need for long distance travel, we can ease the financial and emotional burden on parents, support earlier detection of conditions and ultimately improve outcomes for high-risk pregnancies, newborns, infants and children throughout the region.”
By equipping the Le Bonheur Outpatient Center in Jonesboro with advanced fetal echocardiography and EEG technology linked via telehealth to Le Bonheur’s nationally recognized specialists, the grant will help deliver better treatment outcomes while keeping care closer to the communities that need it most.
This project is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $340,725 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CMS/HHS or the U.S. Government.
