CHI Memorial Receives $1.3 Million in Grants to Enhance Emergency Services in North Georgia

(CHATTANOOGA, TN – May 27,025) CHI Memorial has received more than $1.3 million dollars in grant funds which will be used to directly benefit the citizens of North Georgia.

State of Georgia Grant

CHI Memorial received more than $1 million in grant money from the State of Georgia for its work providing Covid testing and vaccines to the North Georgia community. 

Those funds were used to purchase three ventilators and 12 state-of-the-art Stryker LIFEPACK monitors/defibrillators to go on the current ambulance fleet. Two new ambulances were also purchased and will arrive later this year. The new equipment and ambulances will further enhance the emergency services provided to residents of Dade and Walker County. 

SAMHSA Grant

CHI Memorial has received a grant totaling more than $323,000 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) to enhance the training and skills of its EMS employees in rural North Georgia. The goal is to significantly expand the capacity of CHI Memorial’s EMS personnel to administer care for mental health and substance use disorder emergencies occurring in rural portions of Dade and Walker Counties, where CHI Memorial provides ambulance service.

This will be a multi-faceted two-year project that includes enhancing EMS training on trauma-informed, recovery-based care for individuals experiencing mental health and substance use related crises; administering Advanced EMT training, geriatric education, advanced medical life support training, and emergency pediatric care training for EMS personnel.  

The grant funds will also facilitate the enrollment of four EMTs in an EMT-to-Paramedic Bridge Program through the Faithful Guardian Training Center, in Temple, Georgia., and purchase automated CPR devices and naloxone kits (to reverse opioid overdose) to outfit ambulances responding to rural areas of Dade and Walker Counties.

SAMHSA recognizes the great need for emergency services in rural areas and the critical role EMS personnel serve across the country. With this grant program, SAMHSA aims to develop the capacity of EMS staff to support residents in rural communities.

About CHI Memorial

CHI Memorial, a member of CommonSpirit, is a not-for-profit, faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to the healing ministry of the Church. Founded by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, it offers a continuum of care including preventative, primary and acute hospital care, as well as cancer, cardiac, neuroscience, and stroke care, and orthopedic and rehabilitation services. CHI Memorial is a regional referral center of choice with 4,700 employees and almost 500 affiliated physicians providing health care throughout Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. To learn more, visit memorial.org.