Through a Notice published on August 12, 2021, the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) announced the availability of up to $500 million in grant funding for the new Emergency Rural Health Care Grant Program (the “Program”) appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The purpose of the Program is to offer support for rural health care services to address the conditions arising from the COVID-19 emergency. Funding will be made available under two tracks: Track One, Recovery grants that offer immediate relief and Track Two, Impact grants to offer longer-term funding to advance ideas and solutions to support long-term sustainability of rural health.
Eligible applicants must be at least one of the following types of entities: (1) a public body, such as a municipality, county, district, authority or other political subdivision of a state; (2) a nonprofit corporation or association that has significant ties with the local rural community; or (3) a federally recognized Indian Tribe in a rural area. In addition to meeting the foregoing eligibility requirements, Track Two applicants must also establish a network or consortium of entities for purposes of using grant funds. The network or consortium must be comprised of at least three or more eligible organizations with at least 66% rurality.
Track One, Recovery Grants
Funding awards under Track One will range from $25,000 to $1 million. Track One grants are designed to provide emergency funds to help rural hospital and local communities broaden access to COVID-19 vaccines and testing, health care services including telehealth services and food assistance through food banks and food distribution facilities in rural areas. Awards under Track One must be used to support immediate health care needs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, to support preparedness for a future pandemic event and/or to increase access to quality health care services to improve community health outcomes. Funding under Track One includes certain costs incurred on or after March 13, 2020, up to a 36-month grant period, that have not already received funding from other federal sources. Eligible expenses for the grant period and/or the pre-award period dating back to March 13, 2020 are costs incurred to:
- Increase capacity for vaccine distribution, including cold storage, vehicle, transportation and other equipment expenses;
- Provide medical supplies and equipment to increase medical surge capacity, including personal protective equipment and laboratory equipment;
- Reimburse for health care-related revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Increase telehealth capabilities, including the purchase of and training needed for provider and end-user telehealth equipment, telehealth software, telehealth electronic security upgrades, electronic health records, data sharing capacity, video and teleconference services and other underlying health care information systems;
- Construct or renovate temporary or permanent structures to provide health care services, such as vaccine administration, testing and facility modifications;
- Support staffing needs for vaccine administration and/or testing;
- Support facility, equipment, and operating expenses associated with food banks and food distribution facilities, including transportation, vehicles, food storage and other equipment;
- To pay professional service fees and charges but only when such expenses are a necessary part of a facility or project allowable under the Program, with certain limitations as outlined in the Notice.
Track One applications will be accepted until October 12, 2021 by 4:00 PM. local time. More detail on Track One Recovery grants, including an application checklist, can be found on the USDA’s website.
Track Two, Impact Grants
Funding awards under Track Two will range from $5 million to $10 million. Track Two grants are designed to plan for, implement and evaluate models to support the long-term sustainability of rural health care, specifically to improve health outcomes, improve access to quality care and create and maintain health care as an economic driver of rural communities for an impact beyond the COVID-19 emergency. Impact grants under Track Two may be requested and used for one or more of the following purposes:
- Establish or scale a regional partnership or consortium of community leaders and health care partners to plan, implement and evaluate a model to solve regional health care problems and the long-term sustainability of rural health care;
- Establish or scale an evidence based model and disseminate lessons learned for possible replication in other small communities and regions;
- Identify a health-related problem within the applicant’s region, develop and implement a method and solution to overcome the problem and conduct a program evaluation to examine health‑related outcomes, long-term sustainability and replicability;
- Establish a methodology to calculate summary impact measures or an estimated return on investment for the grant funds requested, including job creation or retention numbers, and improving quality of life;
- Cover the cost of technical assistance to assist with one or more aspects of project implementation, project evaluation, data sharing or reporting requirements;
- Cover indirect costs in an amount up to a federally negotiated indirect cost rate;
- Make sub-awards in the form of a grant, cooperative agreement or contract, as appropriate, to other members of the consortium or other service providers such as technical assistance providers;
- To pay professional service fees and charges associated with the grant with certain limitations as outlined in the Notice.
Track Two applications will be accepted until October 12, 2021 by 4:00 PM local time. More detail on Track Two Impact grants, including an application checklist, can be found on the USDA’s website.
If you are interested in submitting an application or would like additional information about the USDA’s Program, please contact:
- Emily Beukema at (248) 457-7882 or ebeukema@wp.hallrender.com;
- Brian Bauer at (248) 457-7821 or bbauer@wp.hallrender.com; or
- Your primary Hall Render contact.
Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot—outside of an attorney-client relationship—answer specific questions that would be legal advice.
