By Sherri Blevins
FORT PAYNE- On February 2, 2024, DeKalb Regional Medical Facility welcomed a host of dignitaries to its lobby to celebrate the broadband expansion to North Alabama and the instrumental part it plays in providing essential health care to the area.
Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter served as emcee for the event, introducing several speakers and emphasizing the importance of broadband to the area. Alabama’s Randy Owen, who has been a great supporter of the hospital during his lifetime, spoke, as well as ADECA Director Ken Bowell, Governor Ivey, Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston, and Huntsville Hospital CEO Jeff Samz.
Owen stated, “I am honored to be here today. This broadband deal is a big deal for us. It is a big deal for our state. We care about each other, and Governor, this is going to be a big deal for us.”
Director Boswell thanked Speaker Ledbetter and Leader Livingston for their leadership in the broadband expansion. Over the last six years, the state has invested $82 million to support more than 100 expansion projects through the Alabama Broadband Accessibility Fund. $16.7 million of that has been spent in DeKalb and Jackson County. Boswell issued a special thank you to Farmers Telecommunications (FTC) CEO Fred Johnson for his company being the internet service provider for this area. He said, “We certainly appreciate what you are doing on a day-to-day basis to get broadband to this rural area.
Boswell introduced Gov. Ivey, calling her ‘A lady before her time,’ referring to her vision of having internet access available to everyone in the state. He added, “She knows what broadband means to the communities, whether it be education or whether it be telehealth and the impact it’s going to have in reaching parity between rural Alabama and metropolitan Alabama.
Governor Ivey then addressed the crowd, thanking DeKalb Regional Medical Facility for hosting the event and for its commitment to providing top-notch health care to the community. Gov. Ivey said, “Our ability to provide diligent and timely telehealth services has become increasingly important when it comes to health care delivery. Frankly, it is a service that many people rely on. However, access to telehealth care hinges on access to reliable high-speed internet. Our state is making significant strides in expanding high-speed internet through initiatives like the Alabama Broadband Accessibility Fund. I am proud to say when it comes to connectivity efforts, Alabama is a national model. While our journey to full connectivity is ongoing, we are making substantial progress. The partnership between ADECA and FTC in DeKalb and Jackson Counties exemplifies the success of collaborative efforts. By the time our work here is done, more than 4,330 unserved addresses will have the ability to be connected. Through grants and matching funds, millions have been invested in broadband projects benefitting schools, small businesses, and health care facilities, and our very own homes.”
Leader Livingston then spoke. He stated, “I would be remiss to say that if it weren’t for the leadership of Gov. Ivey, Speaker Ledbetter, and Senator Clay Scofield, we wouldn’t have the broadband that we have in Alabama today. “Livingston thanked FTC CEO Fred Johnson, whom he called the ‘E.F. Hutton’ of broadband, for all his help in ensuring the program’s success. Livingston spoke of the progress of the broadband expansion. He stated, “Alabama has taken the task and moved forward. We have taken broadband not only to the last mile but to the half-mile, the quarter mile, and to the homes through these great folks’ leadership.”
Speaker Ledbetter introduced the last speaker of the day, Huntsville Hospital’s CEO, Jeff Samz. Ledbetter said, “Our last speaker is someone who everyone in DeKalb and Jackson County owes a thank you. In the last two years, Alabama has lost 16 hospitals, most of which are our rural providers. DeKalb Regional has been doing excellent work for almost forty years, and thanks to its new partnership with Huntsville Hospital, this institution and the professionals that work here can continue serving the people of Fort Payne and DeKalb County.”
Sanz stated, “On behalf of Huntsville Hospital, our Board of Directors, and our employees, I want to tell everybody how proud we are to be in DeKalb County. I am deeply grateful to Gov. Ivey, Speaker Ledbetter, Leader Livingston, and Director Boswell for this investment in DeKalb and Jackson Counties’ health care that we have here. We operate hospitals in Scottsboro, and now in Fort Payne. We take our mission seriously, and we exist only to make sure people’s lives improve, and it’s a nice place to live. We take our mission of making sure North Alabama has quality health care very seriously, and we have always wanted to be in DeKalb County, and here we are. It is a great day, and we are very grateful to be here. Telemedicine is not possible without broadband internet. It just doesn’t work. We rely on it. Everything we do in the hospital relies on high-speed internet connections, from reading X-rays to doing consults in people’s homes. It is only possible with broadband internet, and we are grateful to the Governor for her foresight.
Speaker Ledbetter concluded the event by saying, “We have a lot to be proud of here at home, and the best is still yet to come.”
