Stan Maddox, executive director of the Rehab and Beyond clinic in Tucker, GA, accepts a $25,000 grant from the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation as part of nearly $8.9 million in funding for the 2023 GBHCMF grant cycle. Rehab and Beyond provides free therapy to low-income, uninsured, or underinsured stroke and brain injury survivors in the state of Georgia, regardless of circumstances. Pictured from L-R are Larry Wynn, Executive Director of the GBHCMF, Rev. Craig Dale, GBHCMF Board Chair, Stan Maddox of Rehab and Beyond, and Rev. Thomas Hammond, Executive Director of Georgia Baptist Mission Board. Photo courtesy of CDMP

The Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation announced on Monday its distribution of nearly $9 million in medical funding to 93 health care-related nonprofits and ministries across the state.

Donations range from approximately $10,000 to well over $100,000, and assist organizations specializing in primary care, rehabilitation treatment, women’s health and other niche health care fields. The Morehouse School of Medicine’s HEAL Clinic, the Center for Black Women’s Wellness and the Urban Clinic of Atlanta are among the nonprofit beneficiaries of this year’s grant cycle.

The GBHCMF has donated over $65 million to health care nonprofits in Georgia since the foundation’s launch in 2005, according to the organization’s executive director, Larry Wynn. 

“We believe Jesus Christ made healing his first priority, and then taught afterwards. These grants exist to demonstrate the love of Jesus, ensuring that all Georgians have access to life-giving quality hands-on health care,” Wynn said. “For more than 100 years, the Georgia Baptist Health Care System has offered a ministry of healing to those in need. We continue this work by offering a better quality of life to the people of Georgia through needed health care ministries, and to help research and develop new health care services that make a positive impact in their lives.”

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Georgia ranks among the ten states in the country offering the lowest quality of health care services across several measures of study. 

Georgians’ access to adequate health care decreases as the state’s rural areas continue shutting down local medical facilities, a direct result of funding shortages and other management issues. At least 12 hospitals in the state have closed since 2013 alone, according to the Georgia Hospital Association. These closures disproportionately impact Georgia residents of color and those living at or underneath the state’s threshold for poverty.

This year’s grant award marks the largest in the foundation’s recent history, surpassing last year’s total by nearly $800,000, according to the GBHCMF’s annual report.

“From Athens to Valdosta, from Columbus to Palmetto, neighborhood-level health care services can continue to be delivered throughout our state,” Wynn said. “Our awardees have demonstrated their commitment to the people they serve, and we are thrilled to partner with them.”