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USC rural health center seeks level funding, highlights maternal-child programs and telehealth expansion
Summary
The University of South Carolina’s Center for Rural and Primary Health Care asked the health subcommittee for level funding, citing statewide reach, workforce training and maternal-child programs that have reduced travel burdens for patients and yielded program successes.
The Center for Rural and Primary Health Care at the University of South Carolina urged the health subcommittee to maintain its current funding and allow the center to continue expanding rural access to care.
"Our request for this year is level funding the same as last year and no changes to the proviso," said Dr. Kevin Bennett, director of the center, in his presentation. He told lawmakers the center works with 72 programs and 241 sites across the state and said its efforts kept care local, reducing travel and improving access.
Bennett emphasized workforce and service innovations: training programs for physicians and allied health providers, mobile health units and telehealth in schools. He cited one measure of local impact: "235,000 miles of travel avoided last year alone," which the center attributes to telehealth, mobile units and local specialty clinics.
Dr. Patricia Witherspoon, the center’s medical director, highlighted maternal and child health initiatives, including the Guided Beginnings program. She credited the model’s community convening and wraparound supports for strong outcomes: Guided Beginnings started small and, Witherspoon said, has led to "181 healthy babies because of that program." She described integrated services — from doulas and community health workers to transport coordination — as central to the approach.
Committee members pressed on data and reach. When asked about outliers in infant mortality, Bennett pointed to extreme differences between some rural counties and the state average and said the center uses data to identify at‑risk women and to design targeted, community‑led interventions.
Bennett and Witherspoon told the committee they are positioned to scale the center’s models if federal rural health dollars become available, proposing to blend state investment with federal grants to expand collaborative community health models, mobile units and mental‑health services.
The presentation closed with committee appreciation for the center’s statewide work and a pledge to follow up on data and coordination questions.
