HRSA will invest $8 million in grants for Rural Communities Opioid Response Program
The Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA’s) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a new Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) initiative called RCORP-Medication-Assisted Treatment Expansion (HRSA-19-102).
RCORP-Medication-Assisted Treatment Expansion (MAT Expansion) award recipients can will get up to $725,000 for a three-year period of performance to establish or expand medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in eligible hospitals, health clinics, or tribal organizations located in high-risk rural communities.
Eligible applicants include domestic public or private, non-profit or for-profit:
· Rural Health Clinics, as defined by Social Security Act Section 1861(aa) and 42 CFR Parts 405 and 491;
· Critical Access Hospitals, as defined by Section 1820 (e) of the Social Security Act and 42 CFR 485 subpart F;
· Health Center Look-Alikes, defined as entities that meet all Health Center Program statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements but do not receive funding under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act.
· Other small rural hospitals with 49 available staffed beds or less, as reported on the hospitals’ most recently filed Medicare Cost Reports; or
· Tribes or tribal organizations (excluding health centers that receive Health Center Program federal award funding).
All applicants must be located, and all services must be provided, in HRSA-designated rural areas, as defined by the Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer.
Given the complex and multifaceted nature of substance use disorder/opioid use disorder (SUD/OUD), as well as the need to generate adequate patient volume to sustain MAT, HRSA said in the announcement that it requires applicants partner with at least two other separately-owned (i.e., different employment identification numbers) entities to implement project activities. These partner organizations do not need to be one of the eligible entities listed above and can come from a wide range of sectors and disciplines.
The deadline to apply is Monday, June 10, 2019 at 11:59 p.m., EDT. Also, FORHP is hosting a webinar for applicants on Thursday, May 16, 2019 from 12-1:30 p.m., EDT. A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend.