WHAT TO EXPECT
The CORH team is here to meet hospitals where they are and leverage decades of rural health care delivery experience to tackle their most pressing challenges.
If your hospital is selected for the year-long Vulnerable Rural Hospital Assistance Program (VRHAP), your staff will receive technical assistance from a team of rural hospital experts, interactive sessions with peer hospitals, and learning opportunities tailored to topics that can benefit your hospital.
HOW IT WORKS
Each year 30 hospitals are selected for VRHAP. Those chosen will have access to CORH’s team of rural hospital specialists and receive technical support, as well as virtual learning opportunities through webinars and tools. A handful of hospitals in the program will also be selected to receive onsite support from CORH.
DEDICATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the challenges rural hospitals face, so each VRHAP hospital is assigned a dedicated CORH case manager who becomes familiar with its unique situation. This case manager taps into the full expertise of their CORH colleagues and acts as a sounding board for hospital leadership. They provide remote technical assistance, connections to experts, promising best practices, and tailored guidance via regular check-ins and phone calls.
VRHAP hospitals also have exclusive access to a suite of educational and capacity-building resources. One program is Project ECHO, or the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes, which connects health care providers and professionals in rural, isolated communities with specialized clinical and operational expertise from across the country. Other resources include the DASH financial benchmarking tool. CORH provides Tier 1 and Tier 2 hospitals a financial analysis as well as courses in board education, recruitment for retention, and marketing.
ON-SITE SUPPORT
The handful of hospitals selected for Tier I support start with a site visit from the CORH team. During this visit, CORH engages hospital leadership in a detailed discussion about the opportunities and challenges the institution is facing, holds community meetings and/or engagement forums, and takes stock of the hospital operations. Following the meeting, the CORH team compiles a detailed site visit summary outlining initial potential areas for improvement and next steps. This becomes the work plan for the year ahead.
WHAT WE’RE DOING NOW
WHAT WE’RE DOING NOWLearn more about what CORH and hospitals from the program are working on:
- Clay County Hospital (AL)
- George E. Weems Memorial Hospital (FL)
- Nevada Regional Medical Center (MO)
- Okeene Municipal Hospital (OK)
For more information about the program or the application process, please visit the FAQ page.