To improve access to medical treatment for rural Kansas residents, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kansas recently presented several regional health care facilities with its Frontier Rural Health Care grants, ranging from $45,000 to $48,000 each.
With Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, UnitedHealthcare's CEO Kevin Sparks awarded $234,000 in funding to the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas Inc. and the Southeast Kansas Independent Living Center.
Close to 30 percent of all Kansas residents dwell in rural or frontier areas, with many lacking local primary care providers, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
“Many Kansans who live in rural areas have to travel long distances to see a health care provider or they have limited access to preventive, specialty and emergency care,” Colyer said. “Grants like these enable us to strengthen quality health care and resources in remote communities across Kansas.”
Additional recipients include the Community Health Ministry in Wamego, the Minneola District Hospital in Minneola and the Reno County Health Department. The five grants represent a total of $234,000 in contributions from UnitedHealthcare, which created the Frontier Rural Health Care in 2017 specifically to upgrade resources in remote regions of the state.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to support the work of these organizations that are helping Kansans live healthier lives,” Sparks said. “Together, we are improving access to care across our state.”
Alerts Sign-up