DEXTER, Mo. – Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter hosted Gov. Jay Nixon today as MSH was honored as one of the eleven rural hospitals throughout Missouri to receive the MoBroadbandNow grant. Thanks to this $262,000 grant initiative, Missouri Southern Healthcare will being to expand and improve their digital technology procedures in Dexter and their surrounding facilities.
“One of the very real benefits of improved broadband service in rural Missouri is in telemedicine – connecting Missourians and their physicians with specialists many miles away who can look at high-resolution images and receive other vital information on a real-time basis to help doctors treat those patients,” Gov. Nixon said. “Expanded broadband accessibility between healthcare providers will mean access to quicker and more specialized care that is often life-saving for patients.”
Amy Akers, Chief Executive Officer at Missouri Southern Healthcare, was on hand to share her excitement regarding the significance of this award to rural heathcare and the future operations of MSH. She acknowledged the communities support and the contributions of the Missouri Southern Healthcare staff in bringing this grant to our local hospital.
"We are grateful the Governor and his team recognize the great positive impact this organization has on our rural community, and their financial support will help us continue our work," added Akers.
Akers specifically pointed out that Jeff Miller, Christie DeArman and Josh Miller were instrumental in the submission for the grant under the MoBroadbandNow program. Josh is a Dexter native and controller at Missouri Southern Healthcare. Christie is the Director of Quality Improvement. Jeff Miller is the Director of IT and was able to formulate the grant submission on a short timeline to achieve this award.
Missouri Southern Healthcare, formerly known as Dexter Memorial Hospital, is a 50-patient bed acute care hospital with six rural health clinics. The hospital is receiving a grant of up to $25,000 to help increase broadband speed throughout its healthcare system and to expand its connectivity with the clinics.
“I commend Missouri Southern Healthcare and the other rural hospitals for their efforts to use these benefits as part of their healthcare missions,” the Governor said. “We continue to see how MoBroadbandNow has benefited Missouri in healthcare, education, public safety and commerce, and will do so for decades to come.”
The grants, which come from a federal grant to the state of Missouri as part of its state broadband plan, will be distributed in seven installments between Dec. 1, 2012 and July 31, 2014.
Gov. Nixon launched the MoBroadbandNow initiative in 2009 to greatly expand broadband to reach more homes, businesses, schools, health care facilities, and public safety agencies. Over the next few years, Missouri will see a total investment of more than $310 million to expand broadband throughout the state, through a combination of federal, state, local and private sector resources, including more than $192 million in competitive federal funding obtained by the state of Missouri and its private and local partners.
