Southcoast Health is now accepting submissions for the 2023 Access to Technology Mini Grant Program until 5 pm on Wednesday, November 22. The funds from this program provide organizations with monetary support to invest in improving the access to and knowledge of technology within the region.

This program is made possible by the Southcoast Health Digital Health Services (DHS) hardware decommission and recycling initiative, which started in 2019.

“At Southcoast Health, we are committed to investing in community benefits that extend beyond direct patient care,” said Jim Feen, Senior Vice President, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Southcoast Health. “Through our commitment to routinely investing and staying current with the state-of-the-art technologies that run Southcoast Health and enable exceptional care, we developed a hardware decommission and recycling initiative to safely and securely dispose of outdated equipment.”

This initiative recognizes that old computers and outdated hardware devices can be securely repurposed by recycling them and selling the useful parts while ensuring privacy and data protection by shredding the aged hard drives. While Southcoast Health is unable to donate these items outright, to ensure all data is securely eliminated, the funds from the secure recycling program are offered to community partners to support new technology investments.

“The intent of the grant program is to re-distribute funds received from our hardware decommission and recycling initiative back into the community. Overall this will help support the ever-growing technology needs of local community programs who will benefit from this important support,” said Feen.

This grant is also supported by the Southcoast CARES program, which works to address the most pressing health and social needs of our region with a focus on health equity. In the most recent report, for the 2022 fiscal year, Southcoast Health invested over $23.6 million in community benefits activities, including charity care, hospital and community-based programs, and collaboration with regional health centers and health and human service agencies.

“As a not-for-profit, community-based healthcare system, we are committed to reaching beyond our walls to partner with organizations that help our community thrive. We are honored to be able to help build technology infrastructure for our partners, which can facilitate their ability to serve our community, share data, and more,” said Ali LeBert, Manager of Community Health and Wellness for Southcoast Health.

For more information about and to apply for this program, please visit Community Funding Opportunities | Southcoast Health.