Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program

For program and eligibility questions:
Krista Mastel
301.443.0491
RuralHospitals@hrsa.gov

For financial and budget questions:
Kristian Walker
301.287.0152
kwalker@hrsa.gov

Grants.gov contact center:
800.518.4726
support@grants.gov
Self-service knowledge base

HRSA contact center:
877.464.4772
TTY: 877.897.9910
HRSA contact page

System for award management (SAM):
866.606.8220
Federal service desk

The Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program is offering direct financial assistance for rural hospitals facing structural payment disadvantages for the maintenance of healthcare providers with the goal of maintaining essential healthcare services and preventing avoidable closures.

Program requirements and expectations:

• Ensure funds are used to maintain healthcare providers and essential healthcare services
• Limit administrative expenses to 10% of the funds

Administrative costs include all indirect costs, as well as direct personnel and fringe benefits associated with oversight and management of the project. Personnel and fringe benefits that directly support implementation of the approved project activities for the maintenance of healthcare providers may be charged as programmatic costs and are not considered administrative costs.

Eligibility requirements:

• Have 50 or less acute care inpatient beds
• Have an established wage index value of less than 0.90
• Located in a rural area as defined by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

A list of eligible hospitals is provided in the application instructions.

Expected award amount: $148,000
Project period: 1 year
Estimated number of awards: 167
Estimated total program funding: $24,750,000

The award is formula-based and will be calculated by dividing the total available funding equally among eligible rural hospitals that apply. The final award amount may be higher than $148,000 based on the number of applications received from eligible hospitals.

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.