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

Major Accomplishments in FY 2005 (October 1, 2004 - September 30, 2005):

1. Provided staff support to the MA Department of Public Health's Rural Health Advisory Council that continued to meet quarterly for daylong meetings.
2. Provided information via 12-18 emails/week to 142 MA Rural Health Listserv members.
3. Provided funding, leadership, and staff support to the New England Rural Health RoundTable, which is the state rural health association for Massachusetts and New England.
4. Participated as a member of the MA Oral Health Foundation's Advisory Committee in order to develop more of a rural focus within their strategic plan and link rural communities with this important technical assistance and funding resource.
5. Provided technical assistance and support to a broad range of rural providers and community groups from 20 rural areas of the state representing 134 rural towns.
6. Established the first contract for Massachusetts' participation in the National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network (3RNet).
7. Chaired the New England Rural Health Workforce Initiative, through the New England RoundTable, to develop a regional approach to improving rural health professional recruitment and retention. Pre-application proposals and a full proposal were developed.
8. Provided technical assistance to the continued development and projects of the two formal Rural Health Networks. Worked with University of Massachusetts Medical School to obtain $150,000 in state Medicaid funds to support the two Rural Health Networks, which is the first time we have been able to obtain state funding to support rural health networks.
9. Provided technical assistance to the MA DPH Health Promotion Division on a call to action paper on local policies and community strategies municipal leaders can implement to prevent disease and improve health. This was the first DPH paper, from a program other than the SORH that included rural and urban comparisons highlighting need among rural towns.
10. Collaborated with the MA Tobacco Control Program to use the SORH rural definition to produce data by town that highlighted the high tobacco use remaining in rural areas, compared with urban, and the need for more rural tobacco prevention and cessation services. As a result, MTCP released the first MA DPH Request for Responses for funding targeted solely to rural areas, that was not from the SORH.

SORH Contact Information:

Office: Massachusetts State Office of Rural Health
Address: Massachusetts Dept of Public Health
180 Beaman St.
West Boylston, MA 01583
Phone: (508) 792-7880
Fax: (508) 792-7706
Email: cathleen.mcelligott@state.ma.us
Website: www.mass.gov/dph/
Director: Cathleen McElligott

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 EMS.
Flex Award (FY05): $250,000

Program Highlights:

• Number of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) supported: 4
• Number of Critical Access-eligible Hospitals supported: 7
• Number of Rural Health Networks developed: 2
• Number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) assisted: 52
• Number of Rural Communities assisted: 20

Major Accomplishments:

1. Provided substantial support and technical assistance for the conversion of Athol Memorial Hospital to a Critical Access Hospital designation. Met with all remaining CAH-eligible hospitals to review last opportunity for conversion.
2. Held a successful small rural hospital summit with hospital administrators from nine of eleven hospitals attending and 30% more hospital participants than previous year.
3. Held meetings on-site at all CAHs in collaboration with our QIO (MassPRO).
4. Provided $15,000 to three CAHs for sustainability and development projects and $20,000 to our recently converted CAH for a post-CAH conversion analysis and action plan.
5. Continued leadership role and funding for the New England Rural Hospital Performance Improvement Network's project areas: a New England small rural hospital resource website, annual performance improvement summit, and management training at CAHs in each state.
6. Continued to pilot the Balanced Scorecard and the Rural Performance Management System with Fairview Hospital and began both at Nantucket Cottage Hospital as our second pilot.
7. Successfully launched the MA Rural Hospital Performance Improvement Network identifying priority areas for collaboration: improving peer medical review systems, enhancing credentialing processes, benchmarking data, and patient safety.
8. Conducted a HIT survey for all small rural hospitals. Facilitated a meeting for a CAH with USDA Telemedicine Field Representative on how to better approach rural telehealth funding opportunities. Provided funds to a CAH for a HIT strategic assessment and plan.
9. Provided rural leadership and technical assistance to the Statewide Primary Stroke Services Initiative and hospitals in rural communities to assist the rural hospitals with improving their stroke services and being a part of the new Primary Stroke Services system. Thirteen of sixteen hospitals in rural communities (81%) obtained state licensure as Primary Stroke Services with only 3 rurals remaining. Assisted the CDC-funded Coverdell Stroke Program with increasing rural hospital participation in this extensive stroke QI system from one in April 2005 to seven in December 2005, an increase from 6% to 44%. This allowed them to access Coverdell QI resources and obtain $15,000 each in Coverdell funds.
10. Provided funding to the Western MA EMS Council to conduct a rural EMS workforce survey and hold a very successful Rural EMS Workforce Recruitment and Retention Summit.

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 1600 eligible hospitals nationwide and each usually receives between approximately $9,000.
SHIP Award (FY 05): $74,720

Program Highlights:

• Hospitals receiving funding: 8
• Hospitals in consortiums, networks or systems: 0
• Hospitals using funds for QI and /or reduction of medical errors: 8
• Hospitals using grant funds for Health Information Technology: 4

Major Accomplishments:

1. Provided funds to eight eligible small rural Massachusetts hospitals.
2. At four small rural hospitals SHIP funds were used to support implementation of the new HIPAA security measures.
3. At eight small rural hospitals funds were used for quality initiatives. Several hospital projects involved technology advances focused on clinical telemedine applications, pharmaceutical administration and management, physician order entry systems, electronic medical records, or health information systems. Other projects included improving patient registration processes and implementing best practices for rural stroke services and the care of patients with deep vein thrombosis.

Total HRSA Funding (FY 05): $474,720