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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2003

Contact: HRSA Press Office
(301) 443-3376

HHS AWARDS MORE THAN $30 MILLION TO STRENGTHEN RURAL HOSPITAL
NETWORKS AND IMPROVE HEALTH CARE FOR RURAL AMERICANS

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced more than $30 million in grants to states to improve health care for rural Americans by strengthening rural hospital networks, supporting State Offices of Rural Health and encouraging rural health care coalitions.

"These grants help maintain and upgrade small hospitals in remote areas and coordinate and improve health care delivery in rural parts of the country," Secretary Thompson said. "Both steps are vital elements of strategies to make high-quality health care more easily available to rural Americans."

The rural health care grants announced today include:

  • 45 Rural Hospital Flexibility grants, totaling almost $22.6 million. The funds go mostly to states to help hospitals interested in being certified as Critical Access Hospitals upgrade quality of care and improve emergency medical services. Critical Access Hospitals have 25 beds or fewer and qualify for special Medicare funding, including cost-based reimbursement.
  • 50 grants totaling more than $7.2 million to State Offices of Rural Health. The grants will help the state offices provide technical assistance to rural and frontier communities, coordinate statewide rural health activities and recruit and retain rural health care providers.
  • Two Rural Health Outreach grants. The two grants -- $200,000 to the Nassau County Health Dept. in Fernandina Beach, Fla., and $189,475 to the Island Health Plan, Inc. in West Tisbury, Mass. -- will fund coalitions of at least three health-related organizations to stimulate innovative health care delivery in rural areas.

All of the grants are administered by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration through its Office of Rural Health Policy (http://ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/).

"Saving small hospitals that deliver scarce health care services, recruiting providers to staff those facilities, and building stronger area-wide health care systems are all important parts of HRSA's mission to improve rural health care," HRSA Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke said. "These investments help HRSA's partners at the state and local levels work with us to reach our shared goals."

Tables for the Rural Hospital Flexibility and Offices of Rural Health grants follow:

Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program
Organization City State Amount
Alabama Department of Public Health Montgomery Ala. $480,000
Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Juneau Alaska $544,000
University of Arizona Tucson Ariz. $573,000
Arkansas Department of Health Little Rock Ark. $421,000
California Department of Public Health,
Department of Health Services		 Sacramento Calif. $326,200
Colorado Rural Health Center Denver Colo. $529,200
Florida Department of Health Tallahassee Fla. $550,000
Georgia Department of Community Health Atlanta Ga. $585,000
Hawaii Department of Health Honolulu Hawaii $543,000
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Boise Idaho $474,890
Illinois Department of Public Health Springfield Ill. $668,000
Indiana Department of Health Indianapolis Ind. $526,000
Iowa Department of Public Health Des Moines Iowa $465,000
Kansas Department of Health and Environment Topeka Kan. $620,000
University of Kentucky, Research Foundation Lexington Ky. $583,800
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Baton Rouge La. $385,000
Maine Department of Human Services Augusta Maine $435,000
Massachusetts Department of Public Health Boston Mass. $223,340
Michigan Department of Community Health Coldwater Mich. $513,600
Minnesota Department of Health Saint Paul Minn. $685,000
Mississippi Department of Health Jackson Miss. $395,000
Missouri Department of Health Jefferson City Mo. $407,750
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Helena Mont. $660,000
State of Nebraska Lincoln Neb. $630,000
University of Nevada, Reno Reno Nev. $578,000
State of New Hampshire Concord N.H. $365,500
State of New Mexico Albuquerque N.M. $231,580
Health Research, Inc. Rensselaer N.Y. $421,250
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Raleigh N.C. $574,000
University of North Dakota Grand Forks N.D. $655,000
Ohio Department of Health Columbus Ohio $600,000
Oklahoma Department of Health Oklahoma City Okla. $614,000
Oregon Health & Sciences University Portland Ore. $653,850
Pennsylvania Department of Public Health & Human Services Harrisburg Pa. $357,390
South Carolina State Office of Rural Health Inc. Columbia S.C. $452,560
South Dakota Department of Health Pierre S.D. $660,000
Tennessee Department of Health Nashville Tenn. $517,000
Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs Austin Texas $615,000
Utah Department of Health Salt Lake City Utah $371,000
Vermont Department of Health Burlington Vt. $234,250
Virginia Department of Health Richmond Va. $352,000
Washington Department of Health Olympia Wash. $585,000
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Charleston W.Va. $485,700
University of Wisconsin Madison Wis. $651,145
Wyoming Department of Health Cheyenne Wyo. $379,300
TOTAL: $22,577,305

State Offices of Rural Health
Organization City State Award
Alabama Department of Public Health Montgomery Ala. $150,000
Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services Juneau Alaska $150,000
Arizona Prevention Center, Office of Rural Health Tucson Ariz. $150,000
Arkansas Department of Health Little Rock Ark. $150,000
California Department of Health Services Sacramento Calif. $150,000
Colorado Rural Health Center Denver Colo. $150,000
Northwestern Conn. Community College Winsted Conn. $150,000
Delaware Dept. of Health and Social Services New Castle Del. $108,000
Florida Department of Health Tallahassee Fla. $150,000
Georgia Department of Community Health Atlanta Ga. $150,000
Hawaii State Department of Health Honolulu Hawaii $150,000
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Boise Idaho $147,418
Illinois Department of Public Health Springfield Ill. $150,000
Indiana State Department of Health Indianapolis Ind. $150,000
Iowa Department of Public Health Des Moines Iowa $150,000
Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment Topeka Kan. $150,000
University of Kentucky, Research Foundation Lexington Ky. $150,000
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Baton Rouge La. $150,000
Maine Department of Human Services Augusta Maine $136,968
Maryland Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene Baltimore Md. $150,000
Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health Boston Mass. $150,000
Michigan Department of Community Health Lansing Mich. $58,916
Minnesota Department of Health Saint Paul Minn. $150,000
Mississippi Department of Health & Senior Services Jackson Miss. $150,000
Missouri Department of Health Jefferson City Mo. $150,000
Montana State University Bozeman Mont. $150,000
Nebraska Health and Human Services System Lincoln Neb. $150,000
University of Nevada, Reno Reno Nev. $150,000
New Hampshire Dept. of Health and Human Services Concord N.H. $150,000
New Jersey Dept. of Health and Senior Services Trenton N.J. $150,000
New Mexico Department of Health Santa Fe N.M. $150,000
Health Research, Inc., New York Dept. of Health Rensselaer N.Y. $150,000
N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Raleigh N.C. $150,000
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Grand Forks N.D. $150,000
Ohio Department of Health Columbus Ohio $140,831
Oklahoma State University Tulsa Okla. $200,000
University of Oregon, Health Science Center Portland Ore. $150,000
Pennsylvania State University University Park Pa. $150,000
Rhode Island Department of Health Providence R.I. $85,000
South Carolina State Office Columbia S.C. $150,000
South Dakota Department of Health Pierre S.D. $150,000
Tennessee Department of Health Nashville Tenn. $150,000
Texas Dept. of Public Health Austin Texas $150,000
Utah Department of Health Salt Lake City Utah $150,000
Vermont Department of Health Waterbury Vt. $150,000
Virginia Department of Health Richmond Va. $150,000
Washington Department of Health Olympia Wash. $150,000
W.Va. Dept. of Health and Human Resources Charleston W.Va. $150,000
University of Wisconsin, Madison Madison Wis. $150,000
Wyoming Department of Health Cheyenne Wyo. $62,028
TOTAL: $7,239,161

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: August 7, 2003
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