Steal Sheet - September 2015
NOSORH offers Steal Sheet articles for SORHs to distribute in emails, in your (or your partners’) newsletter, on web sites, Facebook pages, etc. The September Steal Sheet includes:
New Resources:
1) Leading Change: Best Practices in Technical Assistance for Rural and Frontier Health-Care Organizations in a Time of Transformation Toolkit
2) Rural EMS Survey Assessment Tool
3) Final Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020 Released
Funding Roundup:
1) Kresge Foundation Application for Health Grants
2) Walmart Community Grants Now Available
3) The Rural Outreach Benefits Counseling Program
4) SAMHSA to Award $300 Million-plus for Anti-Drug Programs
New Resources:
1) Leading Change: Best Practices in Technical Assistance for Rural and Frontier Health-Care Organizations in a Time of Transformation Toolkit
Leading Change: Best Practices in Technical Assistance for Rural and Frontier Health-Care Organizations in a Time of Transformation is a toolkit designed to meet the specific needs of rural and frontier health service organizations and the capacity building organizations that offer technical assistance to facilitate change.
The toolkit was developed by the National Network for Rural and Frontier Capacity, consisting of the National Center for Frontier Communities, the University of New Mexico Office of Community Health, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, and the State Offices of Rural Health in Hawaii, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Montana.
The entire toolkit can be downloaded from the National Organization for State Offices of Rural Health and National Center for Frontier Communities websites.
2) Rural EMS Survey Assessment Tool
The Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WI ORH) and many others worked with the Joint Committee on Rural Emergency Care to create a “Rural EMS Survey Tool”, which is a short survey that would both help assess the capacity of rural (and urban) EMS services, while also providing them a mini-roadmap to ‘gold star’ performance in each attribute. By listing examples for each numerical score, the survey creates both a quantitative and qualitative analysis. If services are identified, it allows for the creation of cohorts for technical assistance. If locations are identified, it allows for geographic analysis.
It is meant to beas brief as possible, so more services complete it. This draft is provided free of charge for anyone to use. Feel free to modify it. Please send any changes that could benefit other states, so it keeps improving! A pdf version is on the WI ORH website.
3) Final Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020 Released
The Department of Health and Human Services releases its strategic plan for the next five years for implementing or expanding federal health IT plans, including how available funds will be used to support federal health IT policies and programs. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is partnering with more than 30 agencies to help carry out the plan. Priorities include efforts to:
- Advance person-centered health and self-management;
- Transform health care delivery and community health;
- Foster research, scientific knowledge and innovation; and
- Enhance the United States health IT infrastructure.
Over the next five years, the plan’s federal partners will assess their individual and collective progress on efforts to use health IT to achieve goals, including progress on the HHS Delivery System Reform initiative. The plan offers a look at where both direct funding, and financial support through the Medicare and Medicaid programs, will focus on to help promote health IT. The plan is available at
Funding Roundup:
1) Kresge Foundation Application for Health Grants
The Kresge Foundation accepts applications for Health Grants on a rolling basis for innovative approaches to improve community health. Multiple awards are available throughout the nation. Funding varies and the foundation made $130 million in grants last year.
Funding supports community health/clinical health collaborations. The foundation funds national and local efforts encouraging cross-sector collaboration and the integration of community health strategies into health care. Grants focus on promising new practices serving vulnerable populations (like children and minorities) by advancing prevention, improving access and integrating primary community and clinical care. The foundation looks for efforts fostering connections between clinical health care and community health by integrating patient care. Applicants awarded multi-year grants should be prepared to secure matching support after the first year. That match may take the form of additional funding or in-kind services or other resources.
2) Walmart Community Grants Now Available
Walmart Community Grants are now available. Among the foundation's priorities are environmental sustainability, women's economic empowerment, career development, hunger relief & healthy eating (including programs for childhood nutrition). Community grants, allow employees and stores to make awards to nonprofits in their community. Funding depends on project, most grants are relatively small but can reach $250,000. The deadline is Oct. 30. More information can be found at
3) The Rural Outreach Benefits Counseling Program
The Rural Outreach Benefits Counseling Program is a pilot program awarding each of 10 grantees up to $75,000 a year for three years to increase health insurance outreach and enrollment in rural communities. Each of the grantees will work in a consortium of health care providers and community organizations to educate rural community members on their health insurance options and educate the newly insured on benefits available to them. This program expands on previous FORHP programs that were able to successfully enroll more than 13,000 rural Americans in the last two years.
4) SAMHSA to Award $300 Million-plus for Anti-Drug Programs
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will award $312.2 million in funding for behavioral health services over the next five years in connection with tribal and state youth promoting prevention, treatment, and recovery from mental and substance use disorders. SAMHSA grants are being awarded to programs in states and communities across the country to expand and enhance their behavioral healthcare services, especially children, adolescents and young adults. Some programs are particularly geared to helping prevent youth suicide. Grants are awarded through the following specific, competitive programs:
- State-Sponsored Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention. The list of grantees is available at
- Strategic Prevention Framework Grants. The list of grantees is available at
- Capacity Building Initiative for Substance Abuse and HIV Prevention Services for At-Risk Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth and Young Adults. The list of grantees is available at
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