MONTGOMERY — Gov. Kay Ivey has announced a $200,000 grant to provide improved health-care services in Walker County.
The Appalachian Regional Commission funds will enable Capstone Rural Health Center to construct a new and larger medical clinic in Parrish. The 9,600-square-foot clinic will provide improved and more expansive health-care services for the community.
“As one who has seen firsthand the health-care needs of people in rural communities, I am excited about Capstone Rural Health Center’s new facility and the improved medical care it will bring to residents,” Ivey said. “I am also thankful for the Appalachian Regional Commission which not only recognizes current needs in Alabama, but has done so much during the past 50 years to help address so many issues in the 37 Alabama counties in the ARC region.”
The new facility, which will be built with the aid of $1 million in other federal sources and $532,000 in local funding, will have larger and improved examination rooms, waiting area and administrative space. The additional space will allow for additional services to be added later including oral health and a pharmacy. Energy efficient features like solar powered heating and cooling and hot-water systems will also be installed.
Capstone Rural Health Center operates several rural clinics in Walker County to serve residents in Walker County and surrounding areas. The clinics provide comprehensive primary health care and promote illness prevention and healthy lifestyles.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs administers the ARC program in Alabama.
"With her own roots in a small town, Gov. Ivey is a strong advocate for meeting the medical needs of people living in rural areas,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “I am appreciative that under Gov. Ivey’s leadership, ADECA is a strong partner with the Appalachian Regional Commission to help fulfill needs in rural Alabama like this medical clinic in Walker County.”
ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.
Thirty-seven counties in Alabama are part of the ARC region and eligible for funds which could be eliminated under federal budget proposals.
ADECA also manages a range of programs that support law enforcement, economic development, recreation, energy conservation and water resource management.
Ivey notified Dr. Foster Jones, executive director of Capstone Rural Health Center, that the grant had been approved.
Contact: Mike Presley or Jim Plott