Nonprofit Receives Funds to Continue Offering Telehealth Services

The Georgia-based nonprofit Global Partnership for Telehealth (GPT) will continue its role as the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center (SETRC), offering resources to providers and organizations that are actively providing telehealth services.

The Health Resources and Services Administration and the US Department of Health and Human Services will fund $975,000 to GPT over the next three years to help further its telehealth initiative.

"I am grateful for the renewed funding and honored that GPT has once again, been given this distinction by HRSA as the regional telehealth resource for those seeking expert telehealth advice and assistance,” Rena Brewer, chief executive officer of GPT, said in the press release.

GPT has provided telehealth resources to underserved populations across Southern Georgia for 17 years. The nonprofit has helped develop and implement telehealth programs in these communities and has provided necessary technology, training services, and cost-effective telehealth delivery methods, the press release stated.

GPT’s success is possible because of its many partnerships with different providers, rural and urban health systems, schools, long-term care facilities, behavioral health clinics, prisons, charitable health centers, and more.

The nonprofit will expand its footprint by continuing to take on the role of the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center.

The Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center offers its services to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The organization is a part of the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers, which maintains 11 additional Regional Telehealth Resource Centers and two National Resource Centers.

SETRC assists healthcare networks, providers, and individuals who want to provide telehealth services to patients. The Center also helps with the implementation of telehealth programs and offers technical assistance to ensure the programs operate smoothly.

In August 2021, the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers received $4.55 million from the federal government to expand and improve their telehealth resources.

GPT was first awarded the title of the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center in 2010. The new funds will help continue its streak of helping underserved populations access telehealth services in their communities.

Back in 2018, the nonprofit organization launched Pathways, a web-based videoconferencing platform for healthcare providers and schools that were low on resources. GPT aimed to increase telehealth adoption in rural and remote parts of the country with the new platform.

The organization designed the videoconferencing platform to give its members a common framework in which they could deliver telehealth services and collaborate with others using the same technology.