By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials and U.S. Senator Katie Britt announced this week that a $2 million grant has been awarded to financially strapped Atmore Community Hospital for the purchase of medical equipment to replace that which is old or worn out.
Escambia County Healthcare Authority Chairperson Debbie Rowell said county healthcare officials are glad to see the windfall, which will be used to purchase several pieces of new equipment that will take the place of equipment that is nearing the end of its useful life.
“We’re very excited, very grateful that she sees the importance of helping rural hospitals,” Rowell said of Britt. “We are certainly very appreciative of her support of our hospital, and this grant is for end-of-life equipment the hospital desperately needs and can use when we move out to the new facility.”
The grant was secured by Britt through the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act that was passed and became law in March of this year. Britt, a strong proponent of rural medical services, voted in favor of the supplemental appropriations bill that resulted in the legislation.
“Health care is critical for the well-being of Alabamians across our great state, and modernized equipment is key to providing the best care for patients,” the first-term senator said in a press release announcing the grant. “As a daughter of rural Alabama, I understand that every community has different needs, which is why I worked to ensure Atmore Community Hospital received $2 million to procure equipment that will help bolster the care they provide.”
Rowell said she and other officials were aware that the senator was including the $2 million appropriations request but had been holding their breath until notice of final approval came. She also applauded the effort of ACH Administrator Brad Lowery, who wrote the grant application.
“Brad did a great job of applying for that grant,” she said, noting that the appropriations process actually began more than a year ago. “We were aware she had given us that appropriation, but of course, until the hospital applies and gets verification that those grants are approved, you never know you’re actually getting the money.
“We became aware recently that we are going to get those funds. We had been looking forward to and hoping, but you never count your chickens before they hatch.”
Britt, an Enterprise native who now lives in Montgomery, became in 2023 the first woman elected to an Alabama Senate seat, as well as the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
A member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she posted on the X app, regarded as a “global digital town square,” that she would continue to work to improve the quality of medical services in her home state.
She said the procurement of funds for ACH is a “game changer” in making sure patients get the best medical care possible.
“I am proud to have secured these funds, and I look forward to bringing more Alabama dollars back to our state to invest in our families, communities, and our future,” she said.
Rowell said the money, though badly needed, won’t do anything to change the hospital’s precarious financial position.
“I’ve been told some of that funding will actually start coming in between now and the end of the year,” she said. “This money is earmarked, just a way of replacing equipment that was at the end of its life. While it most definitely helps, it doesn’t end all the financial worries that the hospital is facing.”