VA Awards $219.2M to Increase Rural Veterans’ Access to Health Care and Services

The 2.9 million rural Veterans who rely on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care will benefit from a recent award of $219.2 million in health care programs and services by VA’s Office of Rural Health (ORH).

“Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of rural Veterans by increasing their access to care and services,” said Gina Capra, ORH Director. “To do this in a more uniform manner nationwide, we shifted our focus from local pilot programs to spread what we refer to as enterprise-wide initiatives – or proven solutions designed to bring care and services closer to home for rural Veterans.”

In fact, this funding translates to more than 40 enterprise-wide initiatives at 400 VA medical centers and community based outpatient clinic sites in more than 45 states across the U.S., with more sites expected throughout fiscal year 2017.

The initiatives reach 75 percent of the 167 VA medical centers across the nation. ORH estimates these initiatives will impact more than 570,000 rural Veterans.

ORH’s fiscal year 2017 enterprise-wide initiatives are grouped into five categories, listed below with corresponding funding amounts:

• Primary care services – $61.7 million
• Mental health services – $22.5 million
• Specialty care services – $57.4 million
• Workforce training and education services – $10.7 million
• Ancillary support services – $66.9 million (comprised mostly of transportation-related programs)

“This year and beyond, we will continue to develop programs that address rural Veteran health care needs and deliver high-quality care across the VA system,” said Capra.

Examples include free transportation for rural Veterans to or from medical appointments, physical rehabilitation at home, training for rural providers and support for caregivers of Veterans.

To view a full list and learn more about ORH’s enterprise-wide initiatives, visit http://www.ruralhealth.va.gov/providers/collaborativeaccess.asp. For more information about the VA Office of Rural Health, visit www.ruralhealth.va.gov.

FORHP, Health Policy, and You

In celebration of National Rural Health Day, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is proud to announce a new email box to answer all of your rural health policy questions, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.

RuralPolicy@hrsa.gov is a resource for providers, advocates, and stakeholders to ask questions and get updates on the health care issues most important to rural communities.

If you would like to be added to the RuralPolicy@hrsa.gov listserv, please send an email with “Subscribe” in the subject line (you can unsubscribe at any time by sending “Unsubscribe” in the subject line).

Feel free to forward this e-mail widely to anyone interested in rural health policy issues.

We look forward to working with you!!

Happy National Rural Health Day!

Just want to thank you for all you do each and every day with us and for millions of people across the country! We don’t take it for granted. Special thanks to Sahi and Michelle for being along on this ride with us today. Hope you have a fabulous day!

Check out and remember the rural people we all work for in our newly-released “Community Stars 2016” book!

Let’s roll!

Teryl

Get ready to apply for the FY17 NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program

The next NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program (LRP) application cycle is expected to open in January 2017.  To expedite the application submission process, potential applicants and facility administrators are encouraged to have their Critical Shortage Facility (CSF) reviewed for eligibility for participation in the NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program. Eligible NURSE Corps sites or CSFs are defined as a health care facility located in, designated as, or serving a mental health or primary medical care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). Additional information about eligible health care facilities can be found on page 8 on the NURSE Corps LRP Application and Program Guidance.

For those who have already submitted your site for review, please disregard this message.

Potential applicants and facility administrators may submit their facility information to CSF_Request@hrsa.gov beginning November 14 through November 30, 2016.  Notifications of facility eligibility will be confirmed by the NURSE Corps staff no later than December 31, 2016, via email.  Please note:  All notifications will be sent to the email address initiating the request.

When submitting a health care facility to the NURSE Corps LRP for consideration, please provide the following information:

1. Your Name
2. Name of the facility and its specific location (i.e., satellite facility cannot use main facility address)
3. Full mailing address of the facility including street address, City, State, and Zip code
   (Do not use P.O. Box)
4. Profit Status
5. Your site type. (Review the list of eligible facilities.)

If you have any questions about this process, you may contact our Customer Care Center at 1-800-221-9393, Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays) from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.

Resources

• Application and Program Guidance
• NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program (LRP)