government
$32 million in new federal funding to help boost rural health
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 30, 2010
The Dept. of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $32 million in funds to help increase access to health care for residents of rural areas.
Funds will be used to recruit and retain physicians and other medical staff and to modernize infrastructures in rural areas, HHS officials said in a Aug. 23 announcement. The bulk of the funding -- more than $22 million -- is designated for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, which supports improvements in health care quality in communities served by critical access hospitals.
In addition, more than $3 million will go to the Rural Health Workforce Development Program, a new one-time pilot program that helps developing rural health networks to recruit and retain primary care physicians.
The funds involve seven programs administered by the Office of Rural Health Policy in HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/08/30/gvbf0830.htm.
