Northern Light Health receives $4.8M in state funds

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Northern Light Health has been awarded $4.8 million as part of Maine’s Rural Health Transformation Program. The funding will focus on needed upgrades to Northern Light Mayo Hospital’s electronic medical record system, allowing it to fully integrate with the wider system for the first time since joining the Northern Light Health in 2020.

Funding will also support the integration of point of care clinical assistance across the entire health system. These efforts will promote increased patient safety and quality care across Northern Light Health’s service area.

“We are grateful to (U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine) for her work to create the fund and ensuring that RHTP funding is able to directly help health systems in Maine address these needed EMR upgrades,” Lisa Harvey-McPherson, vice president for government relations, said. “This is our most substantial award to date through RHTP and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the State RHTP leadership team as awards for additional provider funding opportunities are released.”

This award is part of Maine’s RHTP Year 1 funding, which dedicated $30 million to helping eligible health care providers replace, upgrade and enhance EMR systems.

The Rural Health Transformation Program is a federal program focused on strengthening rural communities through improving healthcare access, quality and outcomes. It will distribute $50 billion in funding across all 50 states over the course of five fiscal years. The program emphasizes multi-sector collaboration and aims to transform the healthcare delivery ecosystem. Maine has been awarded a total of $190 million for year 1. More details can be found on the Maine Department of Health and Human Services RHTP website at https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ruralhealth.