CEO Update: Scary and Sweet

October is the month of both scary and sweet.  That perfectly describes the roll out of the RHTP awards in rural communities across the U.S. and in Colorado.  At an NRHA Conference last month, attendees described the RHTP as challenging and in my words, a little scary.  In Colorado the sweet part is the amazing opportunity for 92 grantees that have been awarded funding for over 250 different projects in eight initiatives for approximately $170 million in all 52 rural and frontier communities.

$170 million is a lot of money and a lot of money that is desperately needed in our rural communities.  Everyone is grateful for the opportunity to have been awarded these funds, and we all have big plans through those 250 + projects.  Unfortunately, the scary part is many applications were denied and many did not receive the full funding amount.  With a total ask of $250 million, this was not unexpected but still disappointing for those applicants and their communities who were either not awarded or not fully awarded.

When Congress approved this funding under the HR.1 bill, they said it would help rural hospitals offset the losses coming with the cuts to Medicaid.  In fact, CMS still publicly says the funds will not only innovate but offset the losses even though the reality is that the rules and regulations around the use of RHTP funds cannot be used to offset any losses and that is pretty scary.

We know that 2027 holds many unknowns with the impacts of HR.1 starting and the growing budget deficit at Colorado currently projected to be $1.6 billion. CRHC continues to work hard for our rural and frontier communities to make sure you have a partner as we all face this tough road ahead.

To learn more about the RHTP program see the link and information below.  To learn more about CRHC please visit our website at https://coruralhealth.org/federalupdates

Highlights of the investment include (About our RHTP Awardees | Department of Health Care Policy and Financing):

• Strengthening whole-person health by better connecting physical health, behavioral health, care coordination, and community-based services.
• Expanding telehealth and access to specialty care, including tele-ICU and telehospitalist services, remote patient monitoring, and regional telehealth networks that connect rural patients and providers with specialty expertise closer to home.
• Building and sustaining the rural health workforce through recruitment, training, career pathways, professional development, and retention strategies.
• Strengthening EMS and emergency care through regional training and coordination, expanded emergency and transport capacity, workforce development, and critical lifesaving equipment.
• Expanding mobile and community-based health care services through new vehicles and mobile clinics, community paramedicine, Mobile Integrated Healthcare, and home-based services that bring care directly to rural communities.
• Expanding behavioral health and substance use disorder care, including rural behavioral health networks, integrated behavioral and physical health services, addiction medicine, opioid use disorder treatment, crisis services, and care navigation.
• Improving maternal, newborn, and pediatric care, including high-risk pregnancy monitoring, rural obstetric emergency readiness, maternal care navigation, postpartum and newborn home visiting, pediatric specialty care, and pediatric behavioral health.
• Expanding lifesaving blood transfusions before patients reach the hospital by building a reliable whole-blood supply and training rural EMS providers to deliver blood to critically ill or injured patients across a network reaching 39 Colorado counties.
• Modernizing rural health care infrastructure and technology through electronic health record modernization, shared technology platforms, clinical equipment, digital health tools, and systems that improve care coordination and support long-term sustainability.
• Building regional partnerships and shared-service models that allow rural hospitals, health centers, EMS agencies, behavioral health providers, colleges, and community organizations to share expertise, technology, workforce resources, and services.