The View From Here
Brian Thibeau, President

I trust all are enjoying this time of year.  It is a wonderful time to bask in sunshine or stay cool as the case may be, enjoy outdoor activities, and make memories with family and friends.   

Connections Telehealth Consortium (CTC) is a national consortium founded in 2015. It is the umbrella non-profit that administers several consortia across the United States under the Federal Communications Commission’s Health Care Connect (HCF) fund, specifically its Rural Health Care (RHC) fund which subsidizes telecommunications services and equipment for eligible non-profit healthcare providers (HCP). Currently, there are seven (7) consortia under the CTC umbrella.  They are: Kentucky Telehealth Consortium, Tennessee Telehealth Consortium, Texas Telehealth Consortium, Hawaii Telehealth Consortium, Gulf Coast Telehealth Consortium, American Telehealth Consortium, and North Carolina Telehealth Consortium. Collectively, CTC is serving over 1,085 health care providers through the seven consortia. A number that continues to grow each year. 

At CTC, our managing agent, ProInfoNet, is continuing their efforts to obtain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) Rural Health Care (RHC) program subsidies for the Health Care Providers (HCP) across our country that participate in one of the above consortia.  For Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024) our managing agent enabled CTC to successfully submit 89 subsidy funding requests that captured over 2.9 million dollars in subsidy to date with 3 funding applications awaiting approval. For FY 24 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) staff have submitted 117 subsidy funding requests totaling over $7.65 million for CTC health care providers. They have completed a substantial amount of work in achieving that significant increase in funding requests and total dollars requested. Since 2015, the CTC/ProInfoNet staff have captured $19 million of subsidy for CTC health care providers.  A pretty impressive record! I extend a sincere thank you to Jim Rogers, President of ProInfoNet, and his team for their dedication and commitment to CTC, its member consortia and their healthcare providers.   

As I noted in the last newsletter, the ProInfoNet staff have developed the expertise, knowledge, experience, and effective administrative procedures to successfully navigate the Healthcare Connect Fund Rural Health Care program rules and regulations.  The process is long and complex. From gaining an HCP’s eligibility, to determining the HCP’s telecommunication and equipment needs, specifications, and requirements, and then conducting an open, public, competitive, and rigorous bidding process from which the HCP can select the vendor or vendors that best meet their needs. At that point, all that information has to be incorporated into the funding request and submitted to USAC. It is a months-long process and I mean months-long! From start to finish (the receipt of the Funding Commitment Letter [FCL]), the process regularly exceeds 12 months and often can take even longer.   

Later this year, several CTC/ProInfoNet staff will attend the annual School, Health, Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) AnchorNETS conference in Arlington, VA.  We will be able to get a firsthand update on the Healthcare Connect Fund and specifically the RHC program. We also hope to meet with FCC and USAC staff for one-on-one discussions of current issues. This conference and related meetings are critical to enabling the CTC/ProInfoNet staff to maintain their expertise in, and understanding of, the changing regulatory landscape at the FCC and USAC. 

In closing, I would note that the CTC Board members continue to be very involved.  Please be sure to thank them for their expertise, guidance, and service; Red Hutchinson, retired, LRG Healthcare, NH; David Valcik, retired, Northern Light Health, ME; Rick Cowan, Northern Light Health, ME; and Tim Smith, retired, ME. They continue to dedicate their time and energy to CTC to secure and maintain subsidized services and equipment for healthcare sites.  

My thanks to all of you who have continued to support our efforts.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me (bthibeau@outlook.com or 207-941-1040) or any member of the Board of Directors should you have questions.