JACKSON — The University of Mississippi Medical Center will receive $4.25 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a five-year redesignation as a federally recognized Center of Excellence in Telehealth, Mississippi lawmakers announced.
The funding was appropriated by Congress through the Telehealth Centers of Excellence program. U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, both R-Miss., and U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., advocated for the funding during the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process.
UMMC is one of two federally recognized Telehealth Centers of Excellence in the country. The designation allows the medical center to expand telehealth services in rural and medically underserved communities while conducting research and training health care professionals.
The five-year award also makes UMMC eligible for subsequent funding through the program in future years.
“Telehealth is a lifeline for rural states like ours,” Wicker said in a statement. “This option bridges healthcare divides, bringing providers to senior citizens, busy parents, or those living far from a clinic.”
Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds HHS, said UMMC has continued to expand access to telehealth and demonstrate its effectiveness in promoting wellness.
“As one of two telehealth centers for excellence nationally, UMMC continues to set the pace in expanding telehealth access and its effectiveness as a tool to promote wellness,” Hyde-Smith said.
The federal program supports academic medical centers as they expand telehealth services in rural communities and seek to improve patient outcomes. The new funding will support research, data collection, studies and telehealth training for health care professionals.
Guest said UMMC’s program will continue to serve as a model for other states developing telehealth programs.
“UMMC has long been a national leader in telehealth,” Guest said. “UMMC’s telehealth program will continue to be of great service to Mississippians and serve as a national model.”
Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC’s vice chancellor for health affairs, said the funding will expand the medical center’s ability to provide health care to rural and medically underserved areas of Mississippi.
Telehealth services allow UMMC to monitor patients in rural hospitals, assist people managing chronic conditions and provide mental health services to students, Woodward said.
The designation has helped establish Mississippi as a leader in telehealth, according to UMMC and the lawmakers. The medical center will use its position as a Center of Excellence to develop and study telehealth approaches that could be adopted by medical institutions nationwide.
