Rural Health Network Development Planning Program

Background
This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Health Network Planning Program. The purpose of the Network Planning Grant Program is to promote the development of integrated health care networks in order to: (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of basic health care services and associated health outcomes; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. This program supports one year of planning and brings together key parts of a rural health care delivery system, particularly those entities that may not have collaborated in the past, to establish and/or improve local capacity in order to strengthen rural community health interventions, and enhance care coordination.

Grant Details
This program uses the concept of developing networks as a strategy toward linking rural health care partners together to address local challenges, and help rural partners achieve greater collective capacity to overcome challenges related to limited economies of scale for individual hospitals, clinics or other key rural health care stakeholders. Studies show that integrated health care networks formed in rural communities allow for better resource allocation of both personnel and shared assets to decrease and/or prevent chronic disease, create stronger buy-in, trust and input among partners and community members, improve data sharing, and increase sustainability and longevity of the network.

Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall be a domestic public or private, non-profit or for-profit entity with demonstrated experience serving, or the capacity to serve, rural underserved populations; represent a network composed of participants that includes at least three or more health care provider organizations; may be rural, urban, nonprofit or for-profit entities, with at least 66 percent (two-thirds) of network members located in a HRSA-designated rural area. An entity shall not previously have received a grant under this subsection for the same or similar project unless proposing to expand the scope of the project or the area that will be served through the project.

Period of Performance
The period of performance is from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 (1 year).

Grant Value
The anticipated total available FY 2022 funding is $2,000,000 with estimated number and type of awards being up to 20 grants. The estimated award amount is up to $100,000 per award.

Place of Performance
The proposed service region should include states, cities, counties. Proposed rural counties should be fully rural. For partially rural counties, include rural census tract(s).