Emergency Rural Health Care Grant Program in the US

Deadline: 12-Oct-21

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Housing Service is pleased to announce the Emergency Rural Health Care (ERHC) Grant Program. This fund will be distributed between two tracks of funding to eligible applicants:

Track One, Recovery grants offer support for rural health care services in the form of immediate relief to address the economic conditions arising from the COVID-19 emergency; and
Track Two, Impact grants offer funding to advance ideas and solutions to solve regional health care problems to support long-term sustainability of rural health.

Funding Information

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides $ 500,000,000 in budgetary authority for this program through September 30, 2023.

Eligibility Criteria

An eligible applicant under this program must be one of the types of entities:
- Public body, such as a municipality, county, district, authority, or other political subdivision of a State. State public bodies are not eligible for assistance under this program.
- Nonprofit corporation or association. Applicants, other than nonprofit utility applicants, must have significant ties with the local rural community. Such ties are necessary to ensure to the greatest extent possible that a facility under private control will carry out a public purpose and continue to primarily serve rural areas. Nonprofit Track Two, Impact applicants must demonstrate a consortium of partners that demonstrate significant ties with the local rural community (ies).
- Federally recognized Indian Tribe, including a political subdivision of a Tribe, in a rural area.
In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements, Track Two, Impact grant applicants must establish a network or consortium of entities for the purposes of this grant. The network or consortium shall:
- Be comprised of at least three or more health care provider organizations, economic development entities, federally-recognized tribes, and / or institutions of higher education, academic health, and research institutes (including the applicant organization).
- Be comprised of rural and / or urban nonprofit entities, as long as at least 66% (two-thirds) of network members are located in a rural area and primarily serve a rural area; and
- Identify one lead entity to serve as the primary applicant and recipient of the Track Two, Impact grant funds and accountable for monitoring and reporting on the project performance and financial management of the grant.