Hospital Pursues Funding To Boost Telehealth Services
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by Janice Penix
Administrators at Johnson Regional Medical Center are preparing the first round of funding requests from a rural health grant program, and CEO Tommy Hobbs told members of the hospital’s Board Thursday the proposals are aimed at improving telehealth services.
Hobbs said JRMC is requesting funding to expand and improve its technology infrastructure and cybersecurity to provide expanded telehealth services, particularly in cardiology, nephrology, psychiatry and infant care.
The Arkansas Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) allocates funding to rural health systems to soften the impact of federal funding reductions on rural communities, and the THRIVE Program is the first phase of the RHTP funding.
THRIVE stands for Telehealth, Health-monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion and is the technology-focused pillar of the RHTP. It is designed to move rural care from reactive, facility-centered delivery to proactive, connected, technology-enabled care that expands access, improves chronic disease management and strengthens emergency response.
Over $208 million was awarded to Arkansas for THRIVE for the 2026 fiscal year, according to information Hobbs provided to the Board last month. The technology-focused program is designed to reduce unnecessary transfers and emergency department use through telehealth and remote monitoring. It will also improve chronic care follow-up and earlier intervention through better data sharing and predictive tools, and strengthen rural emergency response and stabilization capacity through modernized emergency medical services (EMS) systems.
THRIVE is also designed to build digital infrastructure that supports broader care coordination across hospitals, clinics, nursing and pharmacy services.
If grant funds are awarded to JRMC, equipment that is nearing end-of-life will be replaced, including wireless access points and switches. Hobbs added the hospital is also in need of technology to provide cybersecurity 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We are going to request several hundred thousand dollars in federal funding to expand our technology and telehealth capabilities,” Hobbs said. “Failure in (the technology equipment) could take down entire systems in our network, and we don’t have around-the-clock cybersecurity. It’s very difficult to afford.”
Hobbs said the ability to provide expanded telehealth services benefits patients, as evidenced by the recent partnership with the Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) Nursery Alliance.
Established in 2016, the Alliance includes eight Arkansas hospitals who receive clinical and educational resources, including 24/7 consultative support with access to ACH neonatologists via ACH’s TeleNICU program for real-time physician-to-physician consultation.
According to Hobbs, the same benefits can be offered to patients in other areas through telehealth, if JRMC has the capabilities to offer the services.
“We’re getting busier, and we need to be bolstering our telehealth and IT infrastructure to support the work we do,” he said. “The number one transfer (category) each month is cardiology, and some of the patients are still going to be transferred. But we know when we brought the ACH Nursery Alliance on, it has allowed us to keep patients here and still provide them excellent care. This funding would allow us to do the same for many of our cardiology patients.”
Hobbs and Andy Altenburger, chief information officer, have been working together to prepare the funding application, and both told the Board the process has been challenging at times.
“RHTP is just four letters, but it’s like a mountain to us,” Hobbs said. “The amount of work Andy has put in on it the last several weeks has been tremendous. He had done a significant amount of planning on this to prepare, and there are volumes of work and information behind it.”
The deadline for funding submissions is June 12.
“We think everything we have aligns well to what’s in the criteria,” Altenburger said. “What we put together will be very well thought out and aligned to what we want to do moving forward. We will definitely have something proposed and submitted that is meaningful, that will benefit JRMC and that will make a difference.”
In another funding matter, Hobbs said efforts to negotiate a new agreement with Blue Cross, Blue Shield are ongoing. He also provided information regarding effects the low reimbursement rates from commercial insurance providers are having on hospitals statewide.
“We feel we are advocating for a reimbursement model that is fair,” he said. “Costs have gone up dramatically, and the pay does not even come remotely close to keeping up with it. There is no question it will negatively impact hospital services in rural areas. We are facing the same challenges at JRMC that most other hospitals are facing. It’s hitting every place in Arkansas.”
In 2025, the state Legislature failed to pass a bill that would require commercial payers to reimburse hospitals at an adequate rate, Hobbs said.
“The road is not going to get easier,” he said. “All financial support is necessary, is critical, at this point.”
Other Matters
–Board Chair Heather Patton reported the executive committee, consisting of herself, Matt McCormick, Clayton Caldwell and Hobbs, met on May 8. Among the items the committee considered were new committee assignments. Patton said Ethan Rogers will join the quality improvement committee, McCormick will join the personnel committee and Josh Nelson will join the budget and capital committee.
–Hobbs reported the new year for JRMC’s health insurance began June 1, with a few changes noted with the third party administrator and the pharmacy benefit manager. He said there is no intent to change premiums or coverage for services or prescriptions. Renewals were also recently completed for all of JRMC’s insurance categories such as vehicle and liability insurance, with no increase in costs.
–There was no financial report due to the absence of Whitney Stepp, chief finance officer (CFO). Hobbs said Joe Jeans, former CFO for JRMC, will return to assist Stepp temporarily.
–Julie Hopkins, chief nursing officer, reported the Senior Care unit received the annual team DAISY Award and Hannah Lutz, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, was the individual winner for the first quarter.
–JRMC’s emergency department passed its annual survey by the state health department with no deficits noted, Hopkins told the Board. She said the department answered 100% of the 911 medical calls and conducted 100% of the medical transfers during the first quarter, adding the call volume during the month climbed into the 400s, compared to an average in the 300s a year ago.
–Hopkins reported changes in staffing, including a vacancy in the labor and delivery director position after former director, Brianna Watkins, transferred to the position of clinical nurse educator. Hopkins said the process is underway to fill the labor and delivery position as well as the program director for the geropsych unit.
–The Board approved the medical staff appointments and reappointments as presented by Case.
Board members present included Heather Patton, Clayton Caldwell, Matt McCormick, Darrel Wheeler, Ethan Rogers, Josh Nelson and Shannon Case.
Read this story and others in the June 3 issue of The Graphic, available online and at businesses throughout Franklin and Johnson counties. Subscribe or donate here to support more hometown journalism.
