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 2006 (October 1, 2005 - September 30, 2006):

• Administered over $20 million in federal and state funding to rural health networks and hospitals.
• Conducted an extensive evaluation with 3 rural health networks that included detailed interviews and meetings with stakeholders to identify key development and implementation activities. Each network received a report detailing milestone development, core functions, and sustainability plans for the future to assist them develop their future strategic plans and financing options.
• Provided staff support and sponsored three meeting of the NYS Rural Health Council. The Rural Health Council provides a forum for an open statewide dialogue on rural issues and provide advice to the Commissioner of Health. The Council focused on health care financing and quality improvement.
• Sponsored Network Director Meeting in Cooperstown, NY

SORH Contact Information:
Office: Charles D. Cook Office of Rural Health
Address: Corning Tower Room 1119
Phone: 518 474-5565
Fax: 518 473-6195
Email: orh@health.state.ny.us
Director: Karen Madden

Other Grant Programs
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 (FY06): $390,000

Program Highlights:

• Number of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) supported: 13
• Number of Critical Access-eligible Hospitals supported: 13
• Number of Rural Health Networks developed: 13
• Number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) assisted: 5
• Number of Rural Communities assisted: 19
  
  Major Accomplishments:
• Supported 13 Critical Access Hospitals implement projects that focused on establishing electronic connections for administration and clinical services with support hospitals, recruitment, community education and outreach, and quality improvement.
• Continued a partnership with Island Peer Review Organization, New York's Quality Improvement Organization, to develop a statewide performance improvement program that complements the 9th Scope of Work.

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 06): $161,010
Program Highlights:

• Hospitals receiving funding: 17
• Hospitals in consortiums, networks or systems: 0
• Hospitals using funds for QI and /or reduction of medical errors: 12
• Hospitals using grant funds for Health Information Technology: 8
  
  Major Accomplishments:
• Information Systems servers and software purchased to digitalize paper documents and allow secure, private transmission of patient information between hospitals.
• Installation of web-based tool for patient and medication safety in all
  patient care units.
• Retained expert quality improvement consultant resulting in Quality Improvement/Assurance programs for all departments.
• Coding classes conducted for all Business Office staff to improve coding compliance and improve reimbursement.

Genesee Valley Health Partnership
D06RH00254
Reid Perkins
Livingston County Department of Health
10950 County Road 92
Wayland, New York 14572
Phone: (585) 728-5738
Fiscal Year 2006
Grant Award $121,460

The Genesee Valley Health Partnership (GVHP) consists of 32 government and human service organizations, health care providers, insurers, and educational institutions in Livingston County, New York. GVHP's guiding mission is to improve the health outcomes of Livingston County residents through collaboration, education, prevention, and practice. Specific partnership objectives include strengthening the local health system by building community coalitions and using the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership (MAPP) process, and improving health care access for residents, including prehospital care, primary care, hospital, and aftercare health services.

Livingston County, located directly south of Rochester, New York, has a population of 64,328 and comprises 17 towns and 9 villages. More than 11 percent of the general population lives below the poverty level; 16.1 percent of the region's children live at or below poverty. Forty physicians and 21 dentists practice in Livingston County, but none accepts new Medicaid patients. Using health assessments, GVHP and the local health department have identified the region's most significant health care problems. They include chemical dependency, lack of immunization, violence, mental health problems, teen pregnancy, inactivity and poor nutrition, lack of respite care, inadequate access to health care, exposure to toxins and infectious agents, and five leading screenable causes of death.

Past, current, and future partnership activities are driven by studies conducted in the county. They include lack of nonemergency transportation to and from health care appointments; difficulty recruiting and retaining volunteer emergency medical services personnel; difficulty in retaining health care professionals; a lack of dentists accepting Medicaid; lack of an efficient, user-friendly referral system between aging service providers; lack of health prevention and education for school-age children addressing violence, teen pregnancy, and substance abuse; and lack of outreach materials concerning environmental health hazards. The 5-year-old partnership strives to continue offering services to Livingston County that fill the gaps in these community services.