The state of Alaska has advanced more than 400 projects to the next step in its grant application process for the Rural Health Transformation Program. That’s a federal program to strengthen the state's rural health infrastructure, as the country faces huge cuts and eligibility changes to federal healthcare programs.
Alaska is expecting to get and distribute more than a billion dollars over the next five years. The state requested that organizations, hospitals and clinics send letters of interest outlining potential projects, as they compete for funding.
State Health Commissioner Heidi Hedberg said the project has three primary goals, first and foremost being improving Alaskans’ health.
"We know that to drive towards better health outcomes, we need to strengthen our workforce in healthcare and lean into technology and innovation," Hedberg said. "Third, we hear from our providers, which are our doctors, our nurses, our healthcare workers, that they need stability in different payment models, and we're calling that 'pay-for-value.'"
Hedberg said the state has received over 1800 letters of interest for the grant funding and of those, more than 400 have advanced to the application process.
Some projects were deferred to a later stage because they're better suited to start once the state’s health infrastructure is stronger. Hedberg says the state will begin the application process for the second year of health funding in the end of summer or early fall.
The state declined some letters of interest that were not aligned with the project’s values or allowable by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal office overseeing the program. A few projects also received planning grants so the state can help those organizations make a clear plan, Hedberg said.
The Rural Health Transformation Program’s timeline is tight, and both the state and applying organizations have been working to meet deadlines.
Alison Miller, a program coordinator the state brought on for the project said watching the process has been uplifting.
"It has been really inspiring and humbling to see how engaged people are, and how motivated they are to help other Alaskans and improve health outcomes, and I think that is something that all of us have really appreciated as we have done this," Miller said. "It really serves as kind of a guiding star as we go through this process."
Full applications were due to the state by June 22 and they will be reviewed by subject matter experts and evaluated according to the Department of Health's publicly-posted evaluation matrix, Hedberg said.
Hedberg said the state anticipates implementation grants to be awarded Aug. 1.
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