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| Release No. 0392.06                                                   |
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| | Contact:                                                         |  |
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| | Claiborn Crain (202) 720-1263                                    |  |
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| | Kristin Scuderi (202) 720-4623                                   |  |
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| | ** **                                                            |  |
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| | **USDA AWARDS OVER \$25.8 MILLION FOR DISTANCE LEARNING AND      |  |
| | TELEMEDICINE PROJECTS**                                          |  |
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| | ***Three West Virginia Recipients to Share Over \$1 Million for  |  |
| | Education, Health Projects***                                    |  |
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| | ** **                                                            |  |
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| | CHARLESTON, W.Va., October 2, 2006- Agriculture Under Secretary  |  |
| | for Rural Development Thomas Dorr today announced the award of   |  |
| | 103 Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants totaling           |  |
| | \$25,853,991 to provide improved educational and medical         |  |
| | services to residents of 38 states. Dorr made the announcement   |  |
| | during a USDA Rural Development sponsored broadband              |  |
| | telecommunications workshop in Charleston, W.Va.                 |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | \"This program connects communities to medical services and      |  |
| | educational opportunities they would not otherwise have,\" said  |  |
| | Dorr. \"Our focus is to ensure that all rural Americans have     |  |
| | access to state of the art services through our rapidly          |  |
| | expanding telecommunications system.\"                           |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program (DLT) was   |  |
| | created to encourage, improve, and make affordable the use of    |  |
| | telecommunications, computer networks and related technology for |  |
| | rural communities to improve access to educational and/or        |  |
| | medical services. Fifty seven of the grants announced today will |  |
| | fund projects designed to provide improved medical service and   |  |
| | 46 will provide improved educational opportunities. Since 2001,  |  |
| | 483 grants totaling over \$166 million have been awarded under   |  |
| | the program.                                                     |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | In Dakota, Avera Health will receive \$453,469 to provide access |  |
| | to electronic critical care using teleradiology,                 |  |
| | videoconferencing equipment for patient education, and           |  |
| | continuing education opportunities for health care professionals |  |
| | and Huron Regional Medical Center (dba De Smet Memorial          |  |
| | Hospital) will receive \$95,201 to establish a teleradiology     |  |
| | program through the use of computed radiology to provide         |  |
| | telemedicine services in 9 rural counties to benefit over 18,000 |  |
| | rural residents. A complete list of the successful DLT           |  |
| | applicants is available at                                       |  |
| | [http://www.rurdev.usda.gov](http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/).       |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | USDA Rural Development\'s mission is to increase economic        |  |
| | opportunity and improve the quality of life in rural             |  |
| | communities. As a venture capital entity, Rural Development has  |  |
| | invested over \$72 billion since the beginning of the Bush       |  |
| | Administration to provide equity and technical assistance to     |  |
| | finance and foster growth in homeownership, business             |  |
| | development, and critical community and technology               |  |
| | infrastructure. Over 1.2 million jobs have been created or saved |  |
| | through these investments. Further information on rural programs |  |
| | is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by      |  |
| | visiting USDA\'s web site at                                     |  |
| | [http://www.rurdev.usda.gov](http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/).       |  |
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| | **\                                                              |  |
| | \#**                                                             |  |
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| | ![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"             |  |
| | height="0.10486111111111111in"}                                  |  |
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