The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced October 12th in the Federal Register that a non-competitive replacement award was issued for $179,748 under the Rural Health Network Development Program to the Siloam Springs Regional Health Cooperative (SSRHC) Inc. The support for the award is from October 1, 2012 to April 30, 2014.
In general, the purpose of the Network Planning Program is to promote the development of integrated healthcare networks to provide access, improve the quality of essential healthcare services, and to strengthen the rural healthcare system as a whole.
The grant program supports one year of planning to develop and assist healthcare networks to become operational. These networks can include a wide range of community partners. For example a Community Access Hospital and a Community Health Center, and a social service organization can work together to ensure that local patients have access to a full continuum of care.
In this specific case, HRSA issued the replacement award to continue activities to improve the treatment and prevention of chronic disease, increase provider knowledge on using health IT, and continue network development activities to serve the people in rural Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma.
The current grantee ARcare was originally awarded the Rural Health Network Development Grant on May 1, 2011. However since May 2011, SSRHC an organization composed of the participating network members primarily responsible for administering the program activities for the Network project has obtained 501(c)3 status. SSRHC has successfully managed and achieved project goals and has the organizational structure to fiscally manage the grant.
ARcare has notified HRSA that while they will remain involved in the project they would like to relinquish their responsibilities as grantee to SSRHC. This is being done with the goal to strengthen the Network’s future viability and growth.
