Hospitals in Canton, Havana to get grants to implement electronic health records systems: Washington—U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) recently announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $360,000 in funding to the Illinois Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center, located at Northern Illinois University, to provide support and assistance to hospitals so they can quickly implement electronic health records systems. The funding will be distributed to 60 Illinois hospitals and rural health centers around the state, with each facility receiving an $18,000 grant. Graham Hospital in Canton and Mason District Hospital in Havana, each will receive one of these grants. “Because they can be shared instantaneously with multiple doctors and can be transmitted hundreds of miles in seconds, electronic health records are an effective tool for improving the quality of health care and saving lives,” said Durbin. “Today’s funding will help achieve President Obama’s goal of adopting a nationwide health information technology infrastructure.”
