Rural Health Transformation Program - Facility Upgrades to Support Regionalization

Vermont has received a Rural Health Transformation (RHT) grant of $195 million in Year One of a five-year opportunity. The purpose of the grant is to build stronger rural health networks, improve technology and shared operations, strengthen the rural health workforce and ultimately ensure that Vermonters receive the right care at the right time for an affordable cost. The purpose of this subrecipient grant opportunity is to support facility upgrades in existing rural health care facilities and service delivery sites, including hospitals, primary care and specialty care, home health and hospice agencies, skilled nursing and long term-care facilities, adult day centers, mental health providers, substance use disorder providers, and other settings where health care services are delivered. Facility upgrades will support service realignment, shared operations, and integrated care delivery envisioned under Vermont's regionalization strategy and ensure long-term overhead and upkeep costs are commensurate with patient volume. The goal of regionalization is to make sure health care services are right sized and optimally distributed in the state so that Vermonters can get the care they need, when and where they need it, and at a price they can afford. Regionalization works toward this goal by redesigning how clinical services are delivered at the local, regional, and state level based on analysis of population needs. The state's vision is that certain essential services are available in local communities, while other services are in either regional hubs around the state or, for the most complex care, a single location statewide. Regionalization protects access to care over the long term by ensuring non-duplication of services and redirection of resources to high value, essential services.