[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 5, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38670-38671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14166]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 
announces that applications are being accepted for grants to small 
rural hospitals to help them do any or all of the following: (1) Pay 
for costs related to the implementation of prospective payment systems 
(PPS), (2) comply with provisions of the Health Insurance Portability 
and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, and (3) reduce medical errors 
and support quality improvement.
    Name of Grant Program: Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant 
Program.
    Program Authorization: Section 1820(g)(3) of the Social Security 
Act and the Departments of Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act of 2002 (Pub. L.107-116).
    Amount of Funding Available: Approximately $15.0 million will be 
available for grants in fiscal year 2002.
    Eligible Applicants: All small rural hospitals located in the fifty 
States and Territories, including faith-based hospitals. For the 
purpose of this program, (1) small is defined as 49 available beds or 
less, as reported on the hospital's most recently filed Medicare Cost 
Report, (2) rural is defined as located outside a Metropolitan 
Statistical Area (MSA) or located in a rural census tract of a MSA as 
determined under the Goldsmith Modification, and (3) hospital is 
defined as a non-Federal, short-term, general acute care facility. A 
list of eligible hospitals, approximately 1265, can be found at http://www.ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/ship.htm.
    Funding Criteria: To help facilitate the awards process, eligible 
hospitals are asked to submit a brief letter of application to their 
State Office of Rural Health (SORH) that describes their need, and 
intended use and expenditure of grant funds. In turn, the SORH will 
prepare and submit a single grant application (PHS Form 5161) to HRSA 
on behalf of all hospital applicants. An award will be made to each 
State based on the total number of applicants in that State. Grantee 
hospitals will receive their award from the SORH. If a State chooses 
not to join in this Federal-State partnership, eligible hospitals may 
submit a grant application (PHS Form 5161) directly to HRSA.
    It is anticipated that all eligible hospitals will apply for this 
grant program, which would result in awards of about $11,000 per 
hospital. It is expected that most of these grant funds will be used to 
purchase technical assistance, services, training and information 
technology. To help maximize purchasing power through economies of 
scale, eligible grantees are strongly encouraged to organize themselves 
into consortiums and pool their grant funds for the purchase of these 
services. SORHs may help their eligible hospitals form consortiums and 
also purchase the goods and services they need.
    Funding will be available for a single year followed by yearly 
renewals, with funding contingent upon: (a) availability of Federal 
funds, and (b) satisfactory performance by the grantee. The SORH may 
charge up to five percent to the grants to cover its administrative 
costs.
    Review Criteria: Applications will be evaluated on the extent to 
which they: (1) Are responsive to the requirements and purposes of this 
program, (2) describe need and strategies to address those needs, and 
(3) propose an allowable use of the grant funds. Further description of 
the review criteria is contained in the program guidance.
    Requesting Applications: The application and program guidance may 
be downloaded via the Web at http://www.ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/ship.htm. 
Hard copies of the application and program guidance are available from: 
HRSA Grants Application Center, Grants Management Officer, 901 Russell 
Avenue, Suite 450, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. Phone (877) 477-2123, e-mail 
[email protected]. Request CFDA #93.301.
    Submitting Applications: All hospital applications must be 
submitted to the appropriate SORH in hard copy and postmarked before 5 
PM EDT on June 21, 2002. All SORH applications must be submitted in 
hard copy and postmarked before 5 PM EDT on July 19, 2002 to the HRSA 
Grants Application Center, Grants Management Officer, 901 Russell 
Avenue, Suite 450, Gaithersburg, MD 20879.
    Program Contact Person: Jerry Coopey, Office of Rural Health 
Policy, HRSA, Rm. 9A-55, Parklawn Bldg, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 
MD 20857. Phone (301) 443-0835, Fax (301) 443-2803, e-mail 
[email protected]
    Paperwork Reduction Act: The application for this grant program has 
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB clearance number is 0925-0001.

    The OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.301.

    This program is not subject to the Public Health Systems Reporting 
Requirements.
    Executive Order 12372: This program has been determined to be a 
program that is subject to the provisions of

[[Page 38671]]

Executive Order 12372 concerning intergovernmental review of Federal 
Programs by appropriate health planning agencies, as implemented by 45 
CFR part 100. Executive Order 12372 allows States the option of setting 
up a system for reviewing applications from within their States for 
assistance under certain Federal programs. The application packages to 
be made available under this notice will contain a listing of States 
that have chosen to set up such a review system and will provide a 
single point of contact (SPOC) in the States for review. Applicants 
(other than federally-recognized Indian tribal governments) should 
contact their State SPOC as early as possible to alert them to the 
prospective applications and receive any necessary instructions on the 
State process. For proposed projects serving more than one State, the 
applicant is advised to contact the SPOC of each affected State. The 
due date for State process recommendations is 60 days after the 
application deadline for new and competing awards. The granting agency 
does not guarantee to ``accommodate or explain'' State process 
recommendations it receives after that date. (See Executive Order 12372 
and 45 CFR part 100 for a description of the review process and 
requirements.)

    Dated: May 14, 2002.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-14166 Filed 6-4-02; 8:45 am]
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