WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today cheered the award of $2,377,875 from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) for a Connected Care Pilot Program, which will provide support for telehealth services for low-income Americans who live in rural areas or are veterans.

“The University of Mississippi Medical Center has been on the leading edge of providing telehealth services to rural areas,” Wicker said. “This award from the FCC’s Connected Care Pilot Program will be a major boost to our state’s efforts to provide quality care to residents who lack easy access to in-person care. I appreciate the work of FCC Commissioner Carr to help make this program a reality.”

Joining Wicker in the announcement is FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who first announced the FCC’s Connected Care Pilot Program on the campus of UMMC in 2018.

“Senator Wicker’s leadership is accelerating the delivery of telehealth services in Mississippi, and across the country. The idea for this program sprang from events that Sen. Wicker held in Mississippi at UMMC.  I’m pleased that the health care heroes at UMMC will benefit from this initiative,” Carr said.

UMMC’s project would provide broadband Internet access service to patients, enabling remote patient monitoring technologies and ambulatory telehealth visits to low-income patients suffering from chronic conditions or illnesses requiring long-term care.

UMMC estimates the project would impact up to 237,120 patients across Mississippi and serve up to 6,000 patients directly. Of these patients, UMMC estimates 52 percent would be low-income.

For more information on the FCC Connected Care Pilot Program, click here.