Department of Health National Rural Health Policy and Community Development Grant

Additionally, an eligible applicant is strongly encouraged to be an organization that is national in scope and that has an established long term relationship with each of the following constituencies:
rural clinical service networks;
frontier residents;
rural hospitals and community health systems;
underserved rural populations;
rural medical and health care provider educators;
rural health clinics;
State Rural Health Associations (SRHA) and State Offices of Rural Health (SORH); and
·other federal partners that can help analyze the link between health care and economic development in rural communities.

The recipient organization is expected to have an existing infrastructure and capacity to work directly or indirectly with a network of national, state-based, or community based rural health care recruitment and retention specialists and experts who focus on the link between rural health care delivery and rural economic development.

identify and promote national policy issues and promising practices for rural health care providers focused on:
quality of care;
economic viability;
access;
workforce (recruitment and retention); and
the changing health care environment as it relates to insurance coverage expansion.

(2)   promote available resources to communities for help in shaping their local health care systems to best meet community need;

(3)   promote promising practices to help rural communities with quality initiatives;

(4)   identify and translate the key points from emerging policy issues to rural health care providers, researchers and policymakers;

(5)   work with state-based entities such as State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs) and State Rural Health Associations (SRHAs) in identifying key rural health challenges, programs and resources that will assist rural communities in addressing these challenges and that will inform the national policy discussions; 

(6)   provide technical assistance to small entities and rural communities for the purpose of improving access to quality rural health services while ensuring a rural perspective is included in national quality forums;

(7)   provide a forum for rural medical educators and students to share lessons learned to address recruitment and retention challenges;

(8)   convene policy discussions around emerging rural health access issues and rural leadership in hospitals, clinics and communities vital to the survival of the rural health delivery system;

(9)   foster the development of rural health systems through the support of rural health networks;

(10) expand public awareness of the importance of the economic impact of the health care sector and to stress health care¿s critical role in rural development while also being able to quantify that impact;

(11) support and develop training opportunities and networks for community health workers and promatora models on the U.S./Mexico Border and rural communities;

(12) improve rural and underserved communities’ access to quality health care through the development of national, state and community based linkages, in support of recruitment and retention efforts;

(13) provide support and assistance to grantees from Section 330(a) of the Public Health Service Act in a manner that meets their specific programmatic needs;

(14) improve access to care for rural veterans and provide support to veterans seeking careers in the health care sector; and

(15) provide support and resources for promoting agriculture health and safety.

This cooperative agreement requires an ongoing partnership with significant

involvement from ORHP staff in the projects and in the

development and implementation of the activities submitted in the work plan.