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): $146,400
Major Accomplishments in FY 2006 (October 1, 2005 –
September 30, 2006):
1. In August 2006, sponsored the states first Health Workforce
Summit in partnership with the SD Board of Regents and Departments
of Education and Labor. 177 attended the Summit.
2. Participated in planning and development of state’s Public
Health Conference in partnership with the SD Public Health, hospital,
and Community Health Associations. Over 350 attended the conference.
3. Maintained the Health
Occupations for Today and Tomorrow web site at The site includes
lesson plans and promotional items to help educators and health
providers encourage K-12 students to seek health careers.
4. Held 10 training sessions for Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs)
at 5 locations in the state. A total of 148 CNAs attended these
sessions.
5. Helped maintain and expand a state-wide grant writer’s
network in partnership with healthcare, community, and civic organizations.
Activities included hosted a listserv, held a workshop for 113 attendees,
and secured a $10,000 Wellmark Foundation Planning Grant.
6. Provided TA to 96 communities on various issues, such as grant
development, project resource procurement, and state or federal
policy interpretation.
SORH Contact Information:
Office: Office of
Rural Health
Address: 600 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501
Phone: 605-773-3361
Fax: 605-773-5683
Email: sandra.durick@state.sd.us
or kenneth.doppenberg@state.sd.us
Director: Sandra Durick
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): $620,000
Program Highlights:
- Number of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) supported: 38
- Number of Critical Access-eligible Hospitals supported: 0
- Number of Rural Health Networks developed: 3
- Number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) assisted: 11
- Number of Rural Communities assisted: 34
Major Accomplishments:
1. Provided $202,046 to 6 CAHs for local projects to improve quality
of care and patient record management.
2. Provided leadership and staff on a steering committee to develop
a state-wide trauma system.
3. Provided support to train 60 nurses in a Trauma Nurse Core Course.
4. Awarded grants to 18 healthcare organizations for partnership
projects with local school districts to promote health careers to
kids in grades K-12.
5. Recruited 10 new hospitals to participate in the multi-state
CAH Benchmarking Project. 30 of the state’s 38 CAHs now participate
in this project.
6. Implemented a CAH Patient Safety Collaborative in partnership
with state hospital association, QIO, the state’s three major
health systems.
7. For the forth year, implemented the CAH Leadership development
program. 130 staff from 9 CAHs are currently participating in this
program.
3) 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 approximately $9,000.
SHIP Award (FY06): $366,294
Program Highlights:
- Hospitals receiving funding: 41
- Hospitals in consortiums, networks or systems: 32
- Hospitals using funds for QI and /or reduction of medical errors:
34
- Hospitals using grant funds for Health Information Technology:
29
Major Accomplishments:
1. Distributed funds to all grantees by the second week in September
so they had the full year to complete the projects.
2. Because 29 of South Dakota’s 41 SHIP hospitals are members
of the Avera, Rapid City Regional, or Sanford Health Systems, ORH
staff met with representatives from each system to discuss their
health information technology implementation strategies. As a result
of these meetings, worked in collaboration with the 3 systems to
complete IT projects in 19 hospitals.
3. The SD ORH used electronic formats of the both the SHIP Application
and Progress Report forms, so the hospitals were able to submit
the forms via email.
Total HRSA Funding (FY06): $1,132,694
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