Rural Cooperative Home-Based Health Care Demonstration Program Pre-Development Grant

Purpose: Pre-planning grant funds will be used to retain a demonstration project organizer to accomplish the following:

 1.. Provide outreach to home-based health care providers, and assess worker needs,

 2.. Work with local level human service providers,

 3.. Build community support among those who have contact with the elderly (social workers, physicians, pharmacists, clergy, hospitals, hospice, meals on wheels, etc.),

 4.. Select and train membership for the steering committee,

 5.. Conduct a survey of potential members,

 6.. Analyze market for home-based health care services,

 7.. Prepare a business plan,

 8.. Assist in the incorporation of the cooperative,

 9.. Assist the cooperative in the preparation and adoption of bylaws and the election of a board of directors, and

 10. Hire a local cooperative service administrator and set up office.

Eligibility: Must be located in an eligible rural area; must be a nonprofit community development organization, or qualified public bodies. (See Notice of Funding Announcement for complete eligibility criteria.)

The required forms and certifications can be downloaded from the RCDI Web site at  http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/rcdi/index.htm.

Purpose: Grants to small rural hospitals to help them do any or all of the following:

  1) Pay for costs related to the implementation of prospective payment systems (PPS),

  2) Comply with provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, and

  3) Reduce medical errors and support quality improvement.

Eligibility: Hospitals that meet the following restrictions are eligible to apply:

  1) Small is defined as 49 available beds or less, as reported on the hospital's most recently filed Medicare Cost Report,

  2) Rural is defined as located outside a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or located in a rural census tract of a MSA as determined under the Goldsmith Modification, and

  3) Hospital is defined as a non-Federal, short-term, general acute care facility.

Eligible hospitals are asked to submit a brief application to their State Office of Rural Health (SORH) that describes their need, and intended use and expenditure of grant funds. In turn, the SORH will prepare and submit a single grant application to HRSA on behalf of all hospital applicants. Applications are available on the program web page or by contacting your State Office of Rural Health. Note that the due date listed here is for the state application and that individual hospital applications are due to the SORH before that date. Contact your SORH for further details.

Purpose: The Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) announces that approximately $900,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 funds are available for competitive grants for policy-oriented rural health services research. Individual research projects that address rural health services will be funded under this announcement.

Eligibility: Public, private, and non-profit - including faith-based and community-based-organizations.

Applicants are requested to notify the ORHP in writing of their intent to apply. Notification is requested no later than June 11, 2003. Completed applications must be sent to HRSA Grants Application Center (GAC), 901 Russell Avenue, Suite 450, Gaithersburg, MD 20879.

Purpose: This Rural Health Network Development (RHND) Planning Grant Program supports one year of planning to develop integrated health care networks in rural areas. The program is designed to support organizations that wish to develop formal collaborative relationships among health care providers to integrate systems of care administratively, clinically, financially, and technologically. The goal of the RHND Program is to achieve efficiencies; expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of essential health care services; and strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. The RHND Planning Grant Program supports this overall program goal by providing support to entities in the formative stages of planning and organizing a rural health network.

Eligibility: To be eligible to receive a grant under this program, an applicant must be a rural public or rural non-profit private entity.

To receive a complete application kit, applicants may telephone the HRSA Grants Application Center at (877) 477-2123 and present the announcement number HRSA-04-003. All applications should be mailed or delivered to: Grants Management Officer, HRSA Grants Application Center, 901 Russell Avenue, Suite 450, Gaithersburg, MD 20879, telephone: (877) 477-2123, e-mail: hrsagac@hrsa.gov.

Rural Community Assistance (RCA) Grant Program
Application deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis. Rural Community Assistance is a broad-based, economic recovery effort aimed at helping rural communities to capitalize on their potential to diversify and expand local economies.

Local grant-makers supplying matching funds during the grant period may include corporate or private foundations, local charitable organizations, religious groups, special fundraising entities, or individual benefactors. In-kind services and funds for capital costs may not be used to match RWJF funds.    

Award Amount: $100,000 to $500,000.
Project Period: 36 or 48 months.  

For more information, go to:   http://www.rwjf.org/applying/cfpDetail.jsp?cfpCode=LFP&type=open

To learn more about this program and the projects already funded, go to the Local Initiative Funding Partners' Web site at:  http://www.lifp.org

All organizations that wish to apply for or renew federal grant and/or cooperative agreement awards on or after October 1, 2003, must provide a Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number with each application.  This new requirement was recently issued as a final OMB policy and published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2003.  The DUNS number is used for tracking purposes, as OMB has come to the conclusion that there is a need for improved statistical reporting of Federal grants and cooperative agreements.  Applicants for these grants can receive a number from Dun & Bradstreet by calling the toll-free DUNS Number request line at 1-866-705-5711.  Applicants may also apply online at http://www.dnb.com/us/duns_update/.  The process of issuing a DUNS number can take up to 30 days with the online option, so the phone process is recommended.  Both electronic and paper applications must include a valid DUNS number, and applications are not considered complete without one.  Individuals applying for federal grants separate from their business are exempt from the DUNS requirement.  The specifics on the numbering system can be found at www.grants.gov.  Appropriate agencies were notified of this policy through OMB's proposal published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2002, an OMB memorandum to department heads on July 15, 2003, and a final notice in the Federal Register on June 27, 2003.  These documents can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants.