State Offices of Rural Health Grant Program (SORH)

The goal of the State Offices of Rural Health (SORH) grant program is to assist States in strengthening rural health care delivery systems by creating a focal point for rural health within each State. The program provides an institutional framework that links small rural communities with State and Federal resources to help develop long term solutions to rural health problems. The SORH grant program features a single grantee from each of the 50 United States. The program is a Federal-State partnership that requires a State funding match of $3 for each $1 of Federal funding.

SORH Award Amount (FY06): $150,000.00

Major Accomplishments in FY 2006 (July 1, 2005- June 30, 2006)

1. Placed 19 additional J-1 physicians in rural and medically underserved communities for a total J-1 work force of 102 physicians serving approximately 204,000 people.
2. Revitalized the statewide rural health newsletter, Rural Remedy, and replaced it with a faster and more cost efficient electronic dissemination process.
3. Coordinated technical assistance to hospitals in the 20-county, Alabama Delta Rural Health Network to improve the efficiency and quality of health delivery systems.
4. Developed a training component for the State’s Bioterrorist Preparedness Department on how to deal with the Latino community in the event of a catastrophic event.
5. Initiated action to enhance the state’s health professional recruitment by adopting a computer-based recruiting system. This system, “Practice Sights” will be used to identify health professional vacancies and match them with prospective candidates.
6. Collaborated with the State’s Medicaid Agency, Department of Mental Health, private health mental providers, and the University of South Alabama College of Medicine to develop a viable tele-psychiatry system for adolescent and child psychiatry case management.
7. Co-sponsored a Physician’s Alabama Opportunity Fair (PAOF), which brought together approximately 34 rural communities with 90 primary care residents and numerous other physicians who were looking for practice opportunities.
   

SORH Contact Information:
Office: Office of Rural Health
Address: 201 Monroe Street, Suite 710
The RSA Tower
Phone: 334-206-5396
Fax: 334-206-5434
Director: Charles S. Lail

Other Grant Programs

1. Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program (Flex)

The Flex Program helps sustain access to high quality health care services in rural America. It facilitates the development and support of community-based collaborative rural delivery systems in all grantee states through conversion of hospitals to critical access status, development of rural healthcare networks and integration of Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

Flex Award Amount (FY06): $440,000.00

Program Highlights:

• Number of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) supported: 4
• Number of Critical Access-eligible Hospitals supported: 41

Major FLEX Program Accomplishments in 2006 (September 1, 2005 through August 31, 2006)

1. Provided mini-grants of $2,000 each to twelve hospitals to participate in the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ Continuous Survey Readiness Program and provided five mini-grants of $5,000 each to small hospitals for patient safety staff training.
2. Assisted three hospitals with assessments of operational deficiencies and establishment of quality management benchmarks at a cost of $5,000 each.
3. Funded financial feasibility studies for five CAH eligible hospitals to determine the financial impact for each converting to CAH status.
4. Provided information updates of changes in the program and the remaining time line to convert to CAH status to six regional councils of small, rural hospitals.
5. Provided training in Emergency Medical Services (EMS)/Emergency Department(ED) integration of services to five hospitals and training in Life Support to 15 hospitals.
6. Provided scholarships to five volunteer EMS staff for Basic EMS training and certification and seventy hospital staff to receive management leadership training.

2. Small Rural Hospital Performance Improvement Grant Program (SHIP)

The goal of SHIP is to assist small (less than 50 beds) rural hospitals pay for any or all of the following: (1) costs related to implementation of prospective payment systems, (2) compliance with provisions of HIPAA, and (3) reduction of medical errors and quality improvement. State Offices of Rural Health (SORH) help eligible rural hospitals to participate in SHIP. Eligible hospitals submit an application to their SORH; the SORH prepares and submits a single grant application to HRSA on behalf of all hospital applicants in the State. There are approximately 1,600 eligible hospitals nationwide and each usually receives approximately $8,873.

SHIP Award Amount (FY 06): $252,180.00

Program Highlights:

• Hospitals receiving funding: 27
• Hospitals in consortiums, networks or systems: 16
• Hospitals using funds for QI and /or reduction of medical errors: 26
• Hospitals using grant funds for Health Information Technology: 27

Major Accomplishments:

1. Distributed funds totaling $239,571 in grant awards to 27 rural community hospitals, with award amounts being distributed as follows: $23,942 for Prospective Payment System (PPS) initiatives, $56,058 for HIPAA initiatives, and $159,571 for Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives.
2. Obtained feedback on grant effectiveness from many hospital administrators on the positive value of the mini-grants in complying with HIPAA and on updating various hospital services that improve the quality of care.

Total HRSA Funding (FY 06): $842,180.00

Rural Health Grant: - $150,000.00
Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program - $440,000.00
Small Rural Hospital Performance Improvement Grant $252,180.00