Grants to help rural Kansas counties find ways to improve health care as population shrinks

In an effort to find ways to improve rural health care in Kansas, six western counties "will be part of a $1.5 million initiative aimed at improving their healthcare systems in ways that can be duplicated by medical providers in other rural areas that are challenged by shrinking populations, recruiting difficulties and mounting financial pressures," reports the Hays Post in northwestern Kansas. "Health Futures Taskforces in each of the communities will receive $40,000 to hire local coordinators and work with a national consultant to develop improvement plans."

"The grants require that the improvement plans be based on data from community health assessments and performance evaluations of their healthcare systems," the Post reports. Groups that submit plans that have potential to take their health care systems to higher performance levels with be eligible for implementation grants of at least $440,000. Kim Moore, president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, which is spearheading the initiative, told the Post, “This is really an opportunity to have a very data-driven approach to looking at the long-term issues facing these health systems and to developing ideas for how to address them. Our goal was to find four energetic, forward-thinking rural communities. We want something that really deals with the ongoing structure, the ongoing working environment and the culture of that health system.” (Read more)