Southern Ohio Health Care Networ

Connecting Appalachia Project

In August of 2009, the Southern Ohio Health Care Network submitted a formal application to begin work on the Connecting Appalachia Initiative.

Buoyed by the benefit of strong public-private partnerships, the project looks to provide metropolitan-class broadband coverage to all of Appalachian Ohio, encompassing a 34-county area centered in Southeast Ohio. Our proposal focuses on a 15,610 square mile region in which an astounding 46% of the area remains unserved and 100% is underserved.

The $220 million project seeks to improve critical community areas such as health care, education, public safety, and small business development.

The holistic plan addresses availability, affordability and adoption, demonstrates a clear path to sustainability and brings strong and experienced project leadership from within the service region, building upon a high level of trust, an essential dimension in achieving success in these communities.

The support for the Connecting Appalachia Initiative has come from an unprecedented collections of collaborators, including all three ARC Local Development Districts advancing the economic development and other interests of the counties, including 78 industrial parks and 651 first-responder facilities; all three K-12 Information Technology Centers representing 622 school buildings; Higher Education Consortium of Southern Ohio (led by Ohio University) representing 38 facilities; County Commissioners, with formal resolutions of support from 29 of the 34 counties; OARNet; the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN), representing 166 libraries in the service area; the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), supplying land for towers in exchange for broadband to their numerous lodges and campgrounds.

Percent of Total Population in Poverty (2007)