The Highland Health Providers Corporation received a grant on Tuesday for morethan $55,000 to assist with the coronavirus response in Highland County, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The Highland Health Providers Corporation comprises Highland Family Medicine, Physicians for Women, and Highland Family Healthcare in Hillsboro, as well as Greenfield Medical Services, Lynchburg Medical Center, and Rocky Fork Medical Center

HRSA’s Health Center Program awarded Highland Health Providers a grant of $55,120, which can be used to address screening and testing needs, acquiring medical supplies, and boosting telehealth capacity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said.

The grant is part of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, which President Trump signed on March 6. The act provides federal agencies with a total of $8.3 billion in emergency funding in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Nationwide, HRSA-funded health centers received $100 million.

“The new grants we’re releasing today are a rapid injection of resources secured by President Trump from Congress in the supplemental funding bill, building on the strong investments HHS has made in health centers over the years,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said. “President Trump has emphasized a whole-of-government, whole-of-America response to the pandemic, and these grants will help health centers, which know the needs and resources of their communities best, to play their part.”

According to HRSA Administrator Tom Engels, HRSA-funded health centers provided primary care to 28 million people in the U.S. in 2018.

Throughout Ohio, 51 health centers received a combined $3.25 million.

Other nearby health centers that also received funding include the Hopewell Health Center, Inc. in Chillicothe, which was awarded $79,476.

Reach McKenzie Caldwell at 937-402-2570.