School nurse services to continue for Bledsoe County School System thanks to grant
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From East Tennessee to West Tennessee, the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences is enabling providers to close health care gaps in rural communities statewide with $1.75 million in grants announced. Bledsoe County was named as a recipient of the grant to continue its school nurse services.
Established in 2025 with a $12 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Health, the Center of Excellence is awarding seven grants, four implement solutions-based programs and three involving planning for such projects.
“The Tennessee Department of Health is proud to support the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence as it invests in innovative, community-driven solutions that expand access to care across our rural counties,” Dr. John Dunn, Tennessee Health Commissioner, said. “By meeting people where they are and equipping local providers with the tools they need, we are building a stronger, more resilient health system for all Tennesseans.”
The Center of Excellence also awarded implementation grants to improve primary care education and access in rural counties of East and Middle Tennessee.
A grant to Bledsoe County Schools supports the continuation of school nurse services as the county collects data on the program’s impact and develops a plan to sustain it when the grant ends in three years. Bledsoe County is one of the 10 most distressed counties in Tennessee, and with this grant, healthcare gaps are expected to improve.
The Center of Excellence holds a grant cycle each year for organizations statewide to submit applications for an implementation grant or planning grant. During the first grant cycle, 200 letters of intent were submitted, and 70 applicants were invited to send a full proposal. Sixty-eight organizations submitted full proposals, which were reviewed using rigorous scoring criteria. Each grant was assessed by three reviewers, at least one of whom was a community reviewer.
“The Tennessee Department of Health is proud to support the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence as it invests in innovative, community-driven solutions that expand access to care across our rural counties,” Dr. John R. Dunn, Commissioner for the (TDH), said. “By meeting people where they are and equipping local providers with the tools they need, we are building a stronger, more resilient health system for all Tennesseans.”
Dr. Dunn cited the state’s low health care rankings while also pointing to a growing list of rural health initiatives, including the governor’s Rural Health Care Task Force, the Rural Health Resilience Program, and the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence, which launched to address challenges in preventive care and health care access across rural communities.
The center’s role includes engaging varied rural voices, aligning and streamlining existing efforts, providing technical assistance, and supporting the Rural Health Transformation Program with a focus on health workforce development, according to Dr. Dunn’s presentation at a convention held in Memphis recently.
Tennessee ranks 44th in the nation in overall health. Twenty-two counties do not have a hospital, and more than 50% of Tennessee’s rural hospitals lack maternity care, according to the Tennessee Rural Health Care Task Force report published in June 2023.
“I look forward to continuing to work with you to transform health in rural Tennessee and to transform some of those metrics we shared,” Dr. Dunn told those in attendance at the conference.
