Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media

More than $22 million will go to the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, which supports improvements in healthcare quality for any of 1,300 critical access hospitals, defined as hospitals with no more than 25 beds.

To improve access to healthcare for rural Americans, the U.S. Health and Human Services Administration Monday announced $32 million in FY 2010 funds to "strengthen partnerships among rural health providers," according to the agency's administrator, Mary Wakefield.

Added HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: "These funds reflect the priorities spelled out by President Obama in providing the best healthcare possible to rural Americans. "The ultimate goal is to build healthier rural populations and communities."



The funding, administered by the Office of Rural Health Policy, will be divided among these seven rural programs:

• More than $22 million for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, which supports improvements in healthcare quality for any of 1,300 critical access hospitals, defined as hospitals with no more than 25 beds. The money would help improve the hospitals' financial and operating performance, and develop collaborative regional and local delivery systems.
• More than $3 million for the Rural Health Workforce Development Program, a pilot. This portion of the funding will improve recruitment and retention of emerging health professionals, specifically primary care providers and allied health professional and medical school residents.  Medical, dental, behavioral, nursing, pharmacy and other health professionals are eligible.
•  More than $2 million for the Telehealth Network Grant Program, which helps develop sustainable communications networks that allow patients to receive care from specialists without requiring that either travel long distances.
• More than $1 million for the Telehealth Resources Grant Program, to provide technical assistance for healthcare organizations and other providers, implement cost-effective telehealth programs.
•  Nearly $1 million for the Flex Rural Veterans Health Access Program, which will enable eligible entities to coordinate networks and linkages specifically geared for rural veterans and residents who need mental health and other healthcare services.  This money is for states "where veterans make up a high percentage of the total population."
•  $770,000 for the Frontier Community Health Integration Demonstration Program to develop and test new models for delivering healthcare services for Medicare beneficiaries in extremely rural areas, called frontier, parts of the nation with six or fewer people per square mile.
•  Nearly $500,000 to analyze the challenges and barriers facing Rural Training Track (RTT) residency program sites. RTT sites have had success in placing medical school graduates in rural locations for their residency, with 75% of their graduates remaining to practice in rural settings.