The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded an additional $16 million targeting rural health initiatives, including telehealth grants for programs with school-based health centers (SBHC), grant funding for rural veterans health programs and more.
Four grant programs administered by HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy will support 52 rural community health projects in 32 states as a result of the recent grant round.
Nearly $6.3 million in telehealth grants will support 21 programs meeting the needs of the medically underserved in 19 states over a three-year period. With the additional $300,000 per year, these organizations can build more sustainable programs. With the increased human, technical and financial capacity the telehealth grants fund, community and school health centers that strive to improve health knowledge can be more effective. Each grantee is connected to at least one SBHC, according to the HHS announcement.
Three veterans telehealth services programs in Alaska, Missouri and South Carolina will also receive $300,000 annually for 3 years. These telehealth grants expand the Flex Rural Veterans Access Health Program, which is a network of clinical information. HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Rural Health launched the replicable program to address the healthcare gap active veterans experience in rural communities. The typical rural health care challenges (hospital closings, geographic barriers to care, limited access to information and higher uninsured rates) are intensified by combat-related injuries and illnesses, according to Ruralhealth.va.gov.
HRSA has awarded $8,638,312,706 through 2,612 grantees so far in FY 2016, $321 million of those funds have funded rural health programs, according to the HRSA Data Warehouse.
Review a list of the funded programs on the HRSA website.
Learn more about open HRSA grant opportunities.
