Southcoast Health accepting proposals for 2021 Access to Technology Grants

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Southcoast Health announced this week that it is now accepting grant proposals for the 2021 Community Benefits Access to Technology Grant Program.

This new program is made possible by the Southcoast Health Management Information System (MIS) department’s decommission and recycle initiative, which started in 2019.

Supporting a new program

This MIS initiative recognizes that old computers and hardware devices that are often outdated and no longer used can be repurposed to sell for useful parts. While Southcoast Health is unable to donate these items outright, it has the ability to use the funds from this initiative to support a new program that will allow community partners the opportunity to secure funding to support their technological needs.

“At Southcoast Health, we are committed to investing in community benefits that extend beyond direct patient care,” said Jim Feen, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer. “Through our commitment to routinely invest and stay current with state-of-the-art technologies that run Southcoast Health to enable exceptional care, we developed a hardware decommission and recycling initiative to safely and securely dispose of outdated equipment. The intent is to re-distribute the funds received from this program back into the community through this new Grant program in order to increase access to ever-growing technology needs of community programs who will benefit from this important support.”

A focus on improving access to technological resources

Technology grant proposals must focus on improving access to technological resources in communities. The deadline for submission of a grant proposal is 5pm, Wednesday, September 15.

This new grant program is part of a larger Community Benefits initiative, which improves the health and quality of life for hundreds of thousands of residents on the South Coast. In the most recent report, for fiscal year 2019, Southcoast Health revealed it invested almost $22.8 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, charitable healthcare system, it is part of our mission to address our region’s health and social needs,” said Rachel Davis, Director of Community Benefits for Southcoast Health. “We are happy to provide this opportunity to support the important work of our community partners.”

For more information about applying for the grant and the for the full list of criteria, please visit www.southcoast.org/community-benefits/programs. All grant proposals should be submitted to Southcoast Health Community Benefits Specialist Alison Bettencourt via email at Bettencourta@southcoast.org.