COMMHIT RECEIVES $43.6 MILLION DOLLAR GRANT: LAUNCHES VISION TO TRANSFORM RURAL HEALTHCARE ACROSS FLORIDA
From lifesaving drones and AI-powered clinical support to Michael Feinstein's Music Forms Memories and hospital-level care at home, Dr. Kendra Siler is bringing together technology and humanity to create a powerful model for rural healthcare.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine a healthcare system that doesn't wait for a crisis.
A system where care can come to your home before you ever need an ambulance. Where a drone can deliver an AED or critical medical supplies while emergency crews are still racing to the scene. Where a tiny wearable can quietly monitor a patient recovering at home. Where nurses can practice a complex pediatric emergency in a virtual world before treating the real child. Where Veterans living miles from a medical center can remain connected to care.
And where a familiar song can do something no machine can: bring back a memory, ease fear and remind a patient that they are more than a diagnosis.
This is CommHIT Everywhere.
Led by Dr. Kendra Siler, President and CEO of CommHIT, the initiative represents a bold new approach to rural healthcare—one that brings together preventive care, care-at-home, EMS, advanced technology, data, clinical expertise and human connection to create a healthcare system that works before, during and after the emergency.
CommHIT has been entrusted with $43.6 million in Rural Health Transformation Program funding to advance preventive care and care-at-home throughout Florida. To keep this expansion deeply human, the initiative builds on CommHIT's work with cultural American icons who serve as ambassadors for its mission—Debbie Allen, Art Garfunkel, and Liza Minnelli.
The funding flows through the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) as part of Florida's participation in the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, a five-year national initiative established through federal legislation to strengthen rural healthcare.
But for CommHIT, the story isn't about a grant.
It's about what happens next.
"We have an extraordinary opportunity to revolutionize healthcare in rural America," said Dr. Kendra Siler. "CommHIT Everywhere brings care closer to people, helps us spot issues earlier and gives frontline teams the tools they need to keep people healthy at home. At its core, it's about something profoundly simple: ensuring that a person's ZIP code never determines the quality of the care they receive."
The Technology Is Impressive. The Mission Is Human.
The initiative is being developed exclusively in partnership with Carrberry Companies, in association with v2 Entertainment Group, and supported by an extraordinary network of more than 70 Florida‑based health organizations and local governments. This network includes 17 primary care sites, behavioral health centers, federally qualified health centers, OB/GYN and specialty clinics, and hospitals; 31 community pharmacy sites delivering protocol‑based care directly to rural communities; and 22 Emergency Medical Services, Fire Rescue, and mobile clinical partners.
Complementing this statewide coalition are national collaborators such as Acadian Health, Paralign Health, Professional Association of Health Care Office Management, Alliant Management Services, Texas A&M University, Tufts University and Telescope Health—collectively expanding the initiative's clinical, academic, operational, and workforce depth.
THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC: MICHAEL FEINSTEIN JOINS THE MISSION
Among the most unexpected—and deeply human—elements of CommHIT Everywhere is the involvement of acclaimed entertainer and preservationist Michael Feinstein, whose Music Forms Memories initiative explores the extraordinary connection between music, memory and emotional well-being.
While CommHIT Everywhere harnesses some of today's most advanced technologies—from artificial intelligence and autonomous drones to remote monitoring and digital twin simulations—Feinstein's involvement underscores a central philosophy of Dr. Siler's vision:
The future of healthcare can become more technologically advanced without becoming less human.
Through Music Forms Memories (MFM), familiar songs, voices and personalized music can become another tool for patients, families and care teams—helping create emotional grounding, stimulate memory, ease difficult moments and restore a sense of connection.
"Music has an extraordinary ability to reach us when other forms of communication sometimes cannot," said Michael Feinstein. "A familiar melody can unlock a memory, change a person's emotional state or simply make someone feel less alone. What Dr. Kendra and CommHIT are building recognizes something I believe deeply: caring for someone cognitively means caring for their entire being."
For Dr. Siler, bringing Michael Feinstein and his innovative MFM program into CommHIT Everywhere isn't merely an addition to the technology; it is part of the transformation. The goal is beyond helping people live longer or avoiding unnecessary hospitalization. It is to help people live better, more connected and more human lives—wherever they call home.
A National Investment in Rural America
The transformation underway through CommHIT Everywhere is being made possible through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a historic federal investment in rural healthcare established by Congress through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, commonly known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."
Administered nationally by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and implemented in Florida through the Florida AHCA, the program represents a five-year, $50 billion national commitment to strengthen rural healthcare, expand access, modernize care delivery and develop sustainable models for rural communities.
Florida has been awarded more than $200 million in the program's first year, with AHCA directing funding toward initiatives designed to expand access and transform healthcare delivery throughout the state's rural communities.
CommHIT has been entrusted with $43.6 million to advance its preventive care and care-at-home strategy throughout Florida.
With gratitude, CommHIT recognizes the congressional leaders who made this historic investment in rural healthcare possible. Their work advanced the legislation that created the Rural Health Transformation Program and opened the door to meaningful, lasting improvements in rural communities.
"We are deeply grateful for Congress's investment in rural communities," said Dr. Kendra Siler. "We take the responsibility that comes with taxpayer funding seriously. Our work now is to turn that investment into meaningful improvements in people's lives—helping individuals stay healthier, bringing care into the home, strengthening EMS and rural hospitals, and ensuring innovation reaches the communities that need it most."
The Rural Health Transformation Program provides the foundation.
CommHIT Everywhere is what CommHIT intends to build on that foundation.
From Emergency Response to Everyday Prevention
CommHIT Everywhere is designed to replace fragmented, crisis-driven encounters with a coordinated workflow that identifies needs early, delivers care in the home and ensures follow-up is completed.
Mobile health, non-emergency care in the home, remote patient monitoring and community pharmacies can function as an integrated system, connected through Florida's health data exchange and supported by the documentation and reimbursement pathways needed for long-term sustainability.
Drones That Bring Life-Saving Care to the Scene
Through its work with Archer First Response Systems, CommHIT Everywhere brings new dimensions to emergencies, with drones capable of rapidly delivering critical supplies, to people waiting for help.
Continuous Monitoring at Home
Wearable technology supports continuous monitoring of physiological signals for patients being treated at home, helping care teams stay connected.
Bringing Pediatric Care Home
Through Parker's Room, nurses train in advanced simulation environments to prepare and deliver sensitive care for fragile children—including ventilator and tracheostomy care—safely helping children at home.
The objective is not moving healthcare out of the hospital. It is making home a safer, more capable place for healing.
Protecting the People Who Protect Us
CommHIT Everywhere will incorporate wearable technologies designed to identify fatigue and stress in frontline workers and provide real-time neurofeedback and biofeedback tools to help them reset.
The work is championed by Power Up Nursing, the Nursing Action Coalition of Florida and the Florida Center for Nursing.
Connecting Rural Veterans to Care
CommHIT Everywhere is partnering with Govsphere.com, a veteran-care specialist, to help connect Veterans living in rural and geographically isolated communities with virtual healthcare resources.
Wherever a Veteran lives, distance should not determine whether they receive care.
About CommHIT
CommHIT (CommunityHealth IT, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to strengthening community health, connectivity, technology, workforce readiness, and the financial stability of healthcare systems. From its home at the Kennedy Space Center, CommHIT works across rural and resource‑limited communities to connect healthcare organizations, public safety agencies, technology partners, and local resources. CommHIT's NASA location reflects how it operates—disciplined, innovative, and mission‑driven. Being based in a place built for readiness and precision reinforces CommHIT's focus on delivering advanced, practical technology to the communities that need it most.
About Michael Feinstein
Michael Feinstein is one of the leading musical entertainers and piano virtuosos of his generation and a pre-eminent force in preserving and celebrating the Great American Songbook. An educator, archivist, interpreter, recording artist, symphony conductor, composer, Broadway performer, and concert artist, Feinstein has earned five GRAMMY® Award nominations, a special Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre, two Emmy nominations, and acclaim for his award-winning NPR series. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, he has released more than 50 albums and performed on many of the world's great stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, The White House, Buckingham Palace, and the Sydney Opera House. Michael Feinstein is managed exclusively by his partnership at Carrberry Companies.
SOURCE Carrberry Companies
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