Healthcare Georgia Foundation has awarded $1,100,000 through The Two Georgias Initiative to 11 Community Health Partnerships across the state working to improve access to quality health and healthcare services to underserved populations in their communities.

“The Two Georgias Initiative grant awards enhance opportunities for Georgia’s rural communities to create the conditions that reverse unfair and avoidable differences in health,” said Gary Nelson, PhD, Foundation President.

The Collaborative Impact for Decatur County (CIDC) in Bainbridge, GA, has received a $100,000 grant from the Foundation to implement a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) it has been working on since February 2017 to reduce health disparities and improve access to quality healthcare for Decatur County residents.

“Our collaborative is a true representation of the commitment of our community,” said Lori Eubanks, Chief Nursing Officer at Memorial Hospital and Manor, the lead organization for the CIDC. “I look forward to the next year working to put our plans into action. Coming back to my hometown, it has been great to work with this group to improve the healthcare and welfare of the citizens of this community.” 

“The commitment of the members of our collaborative over the last 14 months makes being selected as a grantee for the grant possible,” said Newton Cranford, Project Grant Manager at Memorial Hospital and Manor and Project Manager for the CIDC said further.  “Our team represents people from all areas of the county and many different lived experiences.  We all understand clearly what it will take to reach the ultimate objective of achieving health equity and reducing health disparities in our rural part of the state.  We believe our CHIP will take health care access to another level benefitting all Decatur County residents.”

Billy Ward, CIDC Co-Chair, said this grant was a good thing

“The opportunity afforded to Decatur County by this Healthcare Georgia Foundation allows us to better engage diverse communities toward building more equitable health promotion initiatives. Effectively addressing the many social determinants impacting our rural community is critical to eliminating the poor health outcome we experience now,” said Ward.