The Rural Health Medical Program, Inc. was awarded a federal grant Thursday totaling $650,000 to open a clinic in Selma and expand its services to residents of Dallas County and surrounding areas.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Jay Angoff said the grant process was a very competitive one, as almost 1,000 facilities had applied for the grant money.

“I know you’ve got other facilities, but you don’t have one right here in Selma, and the need here is so great,” Angoff said. “What a lot of people don’t understand is the role that community health centers play in our healthcare system. There are a lot of hospitals and a lot of doctors who won’t just let you walk in the door if you can’t pay. And what community health centers do is they take people regardless of their ability to pay.”

The addition of a clinic in Selma will benefit the community greatly, Angoff said, because at least 6,000 residents in Dallas County currently lack health insurance.

“The estimate that I’ve heard is that this new grant will provide the care for about 8,000 people,” Angoff said. “That’s a tremendous contribution to the healthcare of Selma.”

Started in 1977, the Rural Health Medical Program currently has facilities in Uniontown, Marion, Yellow Bluff and Pine Apple. The facilities saw a combined 6,000 individuals in nearly 15,000 visits last year, according to numbers provided by the organization.

“We are happy that we’re moving very close to opening up a health center here in Selma which has a very large population and a target population that we very much want to serve,” Robert Jackson, CEO of Rural Health Medical Program, Inc., said.

Selma Mayor George Evans said the new clinic would bring about healthcare that’s so needed in so many areas.

“I know that [we] have talked about something of this nature for years in trying to get something here for the benefit of serving the people of the Black Belt, and certainly funding has always been an issue in terms of trying to get it, but now that we have this possibility and potential for expanding, I think it’s just marvelous,” Evans said.

In addition to the grant awarded to Rural Health Medical Program, Inc., three other state organizations — Cahaba Medical Care Foundation in Centreville, the Mobile County Health Department and Franklin Primary Health Center in Mobile — were also awarded funds.

“Most of these patients would have no place to turn if Rural Health Medical Program wasn’t here,” Angoff said. “Since it expanded its role … it’s become a vital part of this community’s medical safety net.”