Cookeville seeking a federal grant to scale and expand its existing Community Response program to bolster emergency medical services within the city.
Economic Development’s Matt Billings said the city is requesting funds through the Tennessee Department of Health’s Make Rural Tennessee Healthy Again grant program.
“Specifically, we are requesting funding of three full-time and three part-time EMTs,” Billings said, “And a new upfitted vehicle to add to the Cookeville Community Response fleet. The total amount requested is 1,700,303 over a five year contract period.”
The grant is part of the Rural Health Transformation Program, a newly launched state initiative. Billings said the state is currently administering approximately $200 million in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid funding to various Tennessee communities.
“The grant program is federally funded and requires no match commitment from the city,” Billings said. “The City of Cookeville is requesting funding to scale and expand our existing Cookeville Community Response program.”
Council members voted unanimously to authorize the submission of the application and to accept the funding pending a formal award of the proposal.
“I think this is a good program and I think it’s worth saying that like, this is a grant program we have to put in work, so it’s not guaranteed,” Councilman Chad Gilbert said. “But I think it was a five-year program, which is a substantial amount of time for a grant program, and I think it’s well worth the city investing in that time and energy.”
The Community Response Team operates as a specialized unit within the city’s emergency services framework. Billings said the requested expansion would allow for continued operation and a larger fleet to serve the community.
The grant request was one of several items approved during the meeting, which also included a $500,000 state appropriation for an all-inclusive youth soccer facility and a change order for the Interstate Drive widening project.
