Rural Spotlight

Nursing Scholarship Program – Now Accepting Applications

The Nursing Scholarship Program pays for tuition and education related expenses including books, clinical supplies and laboratory fees. In exchange, scholarship winners agree to at least two years of service at a health facility with a critical shortage of nurses. Applications are being accepted through May 6, 2010.

Preference is given to qualified applicants with the greatest financial need who are enrolled full-time in an undergraduate nursing program. Applicants must begin classes for the Fall term on or after July 1, 2010 and no later than September 30, 2010. It is expected that 500 awards will be made for the 2010-2011 school year.

Questions about the application? Call the HRSA Call Center at 1-800-221-9393. To learn more about HRSA’s programs visit www.hrsa.gov.

Recent Reports

PubHub has made the following reports available:

Transparency and Public Reporting Are Essential for a Safe Health Care System

Compares three approaches to spurring hospitals to improve patient safety and argues that public reporting of performance and feedback to providers is more effective than regulation and accreditation or financial incentives.

Chronic Care: Making the Case for Ongoing Care

Updates RWJF's 2002 chart book with 2010 data on and projections for the prevalence of chronic conditions, by condition, demographics, and insurance type; their impact on individuals and caregivers; their costs; and implications for the healthcare system.

Chronic Disease and the Internet

Compares survey data on access to and use of the Internet and social media by chronically ill and healthy adults, sources and topics of health information, and impact of online information. Examines the information gap by health status and demographics.
 
Operations Improvement Methods: Choosing a Path for Hospitals and Clinics

Provides an overview of the Lean, Six Sigma, management engineering, and other methods of improving staffing, patient flow, and utilization of resources. Compares pros and cons and issues of training and certification, data collection, and implementation.  

CAH Funding

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has announced that funding will be available for Critical Access Hospitals to receive technical assistance from the HIT Regional Extension Centers (RECs) for the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records.  They have announced that $12,000 per Critical Access Hospital will be available to the RECs to provide the needed technical assistance.  Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

For more information on the RECs, click here.

Grant Opportunity

ORHP has announced the guidance release of the Small Healthcare Provider Quality Improvement Program. To search for this opportunity, please go to www.grants.gov, Find Grant Opportunities and do a Basic Search by typing in the CFDA number: 93.912 or the Announcement Number: HRSA-10-045. The deadline to submit an application is March 15th, 2010. For further information, please contact Elizabeth Rezai-zadeh.

National Coordinator for Health IT Announces New Health IT Workforce Grants

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., recently issued a message announcing the availability of two additional grant programs to support the training and development of the skilled workforce required to support broad adoption and use of health information technology (health IT).  These programs are titled Information Technology Professionals in Health Care: Program of Assistance for University-Based Training Programs (University-Based Training Program) and Information Technology Professionals in Health Care: Competency Examination for Individuals (Competency Examination Program).
Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the grants will work to help strengthen and support the health IT workforce. The new grant programs will award $32 million to establish university-based certificate and advanced degree health IT training programs and $6 million dollars to develop a health IT competency examination program. These awards, together with the previous announced $80 million in workforce program grants (Community College Consortia on Nov. 24, 2009, and Curriculum Development Centers on Dec. 15, 2009), recognize the critical importance of developing a well-trained health IT workforce to support the adoption and meaningful use of health IT.
Applications are due by Jan. 25, 2010, with final awards expected in March 2010.
Learn more about the grants here.

Success Stories and New Funding Opportunities

The Rural Assistance Center has released the latest information on success stories and funding opportunities for rural entities and individuals. Click here to see that list.

Money Going to Prevention

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has created a comprehensive initiative for the $650 million allotted for chronic disease prevention efforts in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The goal of this initiative – Communities Putting Prevention to Work – is to reduce risk factors, prevent/delay chronic disease, promote wellness in children and adults, and provide positive, sustainable health change in communities.
Communities Putting Prevention to Work will address the leading preventable causes of death and disability, namely obesity and tobacco use, by expanding the use of evidence-based strategies and programs, mobilizing local resources at the community-level, and strengthening the capacity of states. As a result of these efforts, powerful models of success are expected to emerge that can be replicated in other states and communities.
The cornerstone of the initiative is the Community Program ($373 million), with cooperative agreements to be awarded to communities through a competitive selection process. (The remainder of the funds for this initiative will be made available in the coming weeks to states, territories, and organizations to support, extend and evaluate the reach and impact of the community projects).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will support evidence-based community approaches to chronic disease prevention and control in selected communities (urban and rural) to achieve the following prevention outcomes:

• Increased levels of physical activity;
• Improved nutrition; 
• Decreased overweight/obesity prevalence;
• Decreased tobacco use; and
• Decreased exposure to secondhand smoke.

For brief overview of the program see: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cdc/chronicdisease.html

The press release: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/09/20090917a.html

The full announcement is available on www.grants.gov, searchable under Funding Opportunity Number: CDC-RFA-DP09-912ARRA09

Health Providers Could Soon be Paid for Quality, Not Quantity

The health care debate in Washington includes decisions about how government run programs should pay individuals and facilities. Proposed legislation would look at data such as hospital readmissions and the number of patient referrals that are of benefit to the referring physician. Read the full article here.

Promoting Electronic Health Records

Vice President Joe Biden is working to make hospitals and other health care facilities aware of funds available to help them implement electronic health records. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has made $1.2 billion available in grant money. Other incentives will become available in 2010. Read more here.

Highlighted Funding Opportunities

The following grants are for September 2009:

Network Planning Grant Program
The purpose of the Network Planning Grant Program is to (1) achieve efficiencies, (2) expand access to, coordinate and improve the quality of essential health care services, and (3) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. The applicant organization must be a rural, non-profit or public entity that represents a consortium/network of three or more health related entities that need assistance to plan, organize and develop a health care network. Faith-based and community-based organizations as well as Tribal Organizations are also eligible to apply for these funds. For-profit organizations are not eligible to be the lead applicant but can participate in the network. A total of $1.7 million is available to fund an estimated 20 projects at an average of $85,000 each.  Applications must be received by September 14, 2009 at 8:00 PM ET. 

Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade “Safety Net” Program
The Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade “Safety Net” program supports public, community, and safety net hospitals and health care systems that provide breast care to low-income, at-risk, uninsured and underinsured individuals. A demonstrated commitment to providing health care to underserved populations will be considered in the review process. The goal of this initiative is to support programs that improve access to quality breast diagnostics and access to breast health care for the medically underserved.  The emphasis of this initiative is to provide hospitals and health care centers with systems support, personnel, equipment, and other infrastructure support that will enhance their breast cancer care services to the medically underserved. The Foundation does not pay for the reimbursement of direct costs of care. The funding period for these gifts shall be 1-2 years (at the discretion of the applicant) beginning January 1, 2010. The amount of funding allowable for each proposal ranges from $100,000 up to $500,000 total costs. Each applicant must determine the appropriate amount to be requested, depending upon needs, ability to effectively manage the amount requested, and justification of the amount requested.  A Letter-of-Intent must be submitted by September 15, 2009, followed by a full application (by invitation only based on LOI) due October 15, 2009. 

Wal-Mart Foundation State Giving Program
Through the State Giving Program, the Wal-Mart Foundation seeks to support organizations with programs that align with their mission to create opportunities so people can live better. The State Giving Program strives to award grants that have a long-lasting, positive impact. The Foundation has four areas of focus: Education, Workforce Development / Economic Opportunity, Health & Wellness, and Environmental Sustainability. Minimum grants are awarded at $25,000. The State Giving Program will begin accepting applications for the Fall Funding Cycle on June 15 and continue through September 18, 2009. 

Economic Development Assistance Programs
Under this announcement, EDA solicits applications for the following programs under PWEDA: (i) Public Works; (ii) Planning; (iii) Local Technical Assistance; and (iv) Economic Adjustment Assistance. EDA will provide Public Works investments to support the construction or rehabilitation of essential public infrastructure and facilities necessary to generate or retain private sector jobs and investments, attract private sector capital, and promote regional competitiveness, including investments that expand and upgrade infrastructure to attract new industry, support technology-led development, accelerate new business development, and enhance the ability of regions to capitalize on opportunities presented by free trade. The Planning Program helps support planning organizations, including District Organizations and Indian Tribes, in the development, implementation, revision or replacement of comprehensive economic development strategies (CEDS), and for related short-term planning investments and State plans designed to create and retain higher-skill, higher-wage jobs, particularly for the unemployed and underemployed in the nation’s most economically distressed regions. The Local Technical Assistance Program helps fill the knowledge and information gaps that may prevent leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors in economically distressed regions from making optimal decisions on local economic development issues. The Economic Adjustment Assistance Program provides a wide range of technical, planning and infrastructure assistance in regions experiencing adverse economic changes that may occur suddenly or over time. This program is designed to respond flexibly to pressing economic recovery issues and is well suited to help address challenges faced by U.S. communities and regions. September 30, 2009 is the application deadline, however applications are accepted on a continuing basis and processed as received.

The following grant is for October 2009:

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009: Competitive Grants for Worker Training & Placement in Higher Growth & Emerging Industry Sectors
The Department of Labor (DOL; Employment & Training Administration-ETA) announces the availability of approximately $220 million in grant funds authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) for projects that provide training and placement services to help workers pursue careers within various industries. The purpose of the high growth and emerging industries grants is to teach workers the necessary skills for, and help them pursue careers in, health care and other high growth and emerging industry sectors. Eligible applicants include public entities or private nonprofit entities; applicants must be legal entities and may include local Workforce Investment Boards and their One Stop Systems, tribal organizations, education and training providers, labor organizations, health care providers, and faith-based and community organizations. ETA will accept proposals targeting any of the health care industry's sub-sectors, and is particularly interested in receiving applications that focus on one or more of the following health care sub-sectors and occupational categories: nursing, allied health, long term care, and health information technology.  October 5, 2009 is the application deadline.