MARQUETTE — The Superior Health Foundation concluded its second grant cycle of 2026 on Wednesday, announcing $302,710 in funding distributed across 22 grants to organizations serving the Upper Peninsula. The awards include $189,618 in U.P. Health Impact Grants across six projects addressing maternal and infant health, behavioral health, healthy food access, health care workforce development and child advocacy; $86,765 in Care Access Grants across 10 organizations providing direct medical, travel, hospice and prescription support to uninsured and underinsured U.P. residents; and in $26,327 in equipment grants supporting six organizations.

The first half of 2026 will bring funding to organizations serving every one of the U.P.’s 15 counties and push the Foundation past $10 million in lifetime grantmaking across the region. A clear theme runs through this cycle: emergency response. Three of the awards directly strengthen rural EMS and emergency care capacity across the western and central U.P., reflecting the Foundation’s focus on critical healthcare access. Two of those projects are highlighted below.

“This cycle pushes us past $10 million in lifetime funding to the U.P., and our grantees are filling some large gaps. When parts of the western U.P. lost emergency and labor and delivery services, Gogebic Community College stepped up with a plan to train nurses and EMS staff who will absorb that work. This is just one example in a cohort of grants that are making efforts to ensure access to health care and a well-trained workforce remains a priority in their communities,” said Superior Health Foundation CEO Megan Murphy in a news release.

Gogebic Community College received $70,901 to lead a four-part health care training program across the western U.P. The 2024 closure of Aspirus Ontonagon’s Emergency Department and the 2025 loss of labor and delivery services in Ironwood have left rural patients farther from emergency care than ever, and rural EMS response times in the region average 97 minutes. Working with Aspirus Health System, Beacon Ambulance, MedEvac, U.P. Health System Portage and Gogebic Medical Care Facility, GCC will use simulation manikins to train nurses, ED staff and EMS for emergency births and other high-acuity calls. The grant also implements the region’s first Virtual Dementia Tour and a healthcare leadership curriculum.

Maple Ridge Township received a $6,871 Equipment Grant to start a tri-township volunteer first responder program after parts of Delta County lost their local EMS service. The funding outfits volunteers to provide first care and stabilization in Maple Ridge, Bark River, and the surrounding area while patients wait for ambulances coming from farther away.