Media Contact: Katie Gorscak, (202) 418-2156 katie.gorscak@fcc.gov For Immediate Release FCC APPROVES SECOND SET OF COVID-19 TELEHEALTH PROGRAM APPLICATIONS Commission Continues Approving Funding for Telehealth During Coronavirus Pandemic WASHINGTON, April 21, 2020—The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau today approved an additional five funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in some of the hardest hit areas like New York and Michigan will use this $3.71 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program has funded 11 health care providers in 8 states for a total of $6.94 million in funding. “Telehealth is proving to be an invaluable resource to treat patients during the coronavirus pandemic,” said FCC Chairman Pai. “From implementing remote patient monitoring to helping low-income patients receive care in their communities, I am confident that the funding we approved today will help health care providers expand their telehealth efforts in New York, Michigan, and elsewhere.” Below is a list of health care providers that were awarded funding: · Banyan Community Health Center, Inc., in Coral Gables, Florida, was awarded $958,270 to serve 24 Medically Underserved Areas in Miami-Dade and Broward counties by providing telehealth services to approximately 2,000 low-income and high-risk patients so that patients can receive medical care at home during the pandemic. · Health Partners of Western Ohio, based in Lima, Ohio, with sixteen locations in Ohio, was awarded $737,098 in funding to provide telehealth services targeted at low-income patients by deploying telemedicine carts so that patients can receive medical care at 71 community locations. · NYU Langone Health, in New York, New York, was awarded $983,772 to employ telehealth in operating rooms and conference room spaces that have been converted into ICUs so doctors and health care providers can carefully monitor ICU patients from separate floors, thus magnifying the finite number of available ICU specialists, reducing exposure to the coronavirus, and maximizing the limited supply of personal protective equipment. · St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, in Los Angeles, California, was awarded $382,331 to treat 21,000 patients in South Los Angeles and the City of Compton through remote patient monitoring, video consults, and voice consults. · The University of Michigan Hospital, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was awarded $649,000 to implement remote patient monitoring for high risk COVID-19 patients to reduce the need for hospital admissions, and to expand video visit capacity so that patients with and without COVID-19 can receive medical care at home during the pandemic.   As part of the recently-enacted CARES Act, Congress appropriated $200 million for the FCC to support health care providers’ use of telehealth services during this national emergency. The FCC began accepting applications on Monday, April 13 and will continue to evaluate applications and distribute additional funding on a rolling basis. To learn more about the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program, visit https://www.fcc.gov/covid19telehealth. To learn more about the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected Initiative, visit https://www.fcc.gov/keepamericansconnected. ### Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 / ASL: (844) 432-2275 / TTY: (888) 835-5322 / Twitter: @FCC / www.fcc.gov This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).