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Contents: |
MONTHLY UPDATE:
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Our mission |
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MDH/ORHPC News |
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The State Trauma Advisory Council recommended to Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Sanne Magnan that Fairview University Medical Center in Mesabi be designated as a Level III and Sanford Tracy Medical Center as a Level IV trauma hospital. There are now 36 designated trauma hospitals, including 21 Critical Access Hospitals. Twenty-one hospitals have applications for designation in process with the Minnesota Statewide Trauma System. The Grand Forks Herald contacted ORHPC’s Lawrence Colaizy about visa waivers used to recruit physicians to underserved areas. Read the article on hospitals and clinics recruiting foreign-educated physicians who completed their residencies and specialty training in the United States. Minnesota’s J-1 Visa Web site is online. The Minnesota Department of Health released the Minnesota Plan to Reduce Obesity and Obesity-Related Chronic Diseases, 2008-2013, with input from partners across the state. Because of the environmental, social, economic, genetic, and behavioral factors required to reduce obesity, the plan is a call to action to implement a broad range of approaches by focusing on healthy eating, physical activity and healthy weight. The Minnesota Mobil Medical Unit (MMU) is open for business. The MMU is a portable medical facility that can provide care in situations where a local hospital or health care facility has been rendered inoperable, or local capacity to provide care has been exceeded. The MMU can provide initial treatment and stabilize patients for transport to other health care facilities. Housed in a tractor-trailer rig, the MMU expands when fully deployed into a 1,000 square foot facility with two critical care beds and six general care beds. Eighty-two small, rural hospitals in Minnesota will be receiving grants of $8,282 each from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration through the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program. Within Minnesota, the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care administers these grants to help hospitals to meet HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) compliance standards, or contribute to quality improvement initiatives. Eligible hospitals have 50 or fewer beds and are in a rural area. All eligible hospitals in Minnesota have applied for and will receive funding for one year, beginning November 1, 2008. |
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ORHPC staff NEWS |
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Craig Baarson delivered Economic Impact Presentations in Crookston and Tracy as part of the Blandin Performance Improvement Project through the Rural Health Resource Center. Judy Bergh went to Cass Lake Hospital for a grantee site visit. Cass Lake is working on discharge and a follow-up planning project for inpatients and ER/Urgent Care patients. Kristen Tharaldson met with Rural Health Advisory committee member Deb Carpenter in Perham about Deb's work at Northern Connections, a private nonprofit connecting people in west central Minnesota with resources to achieve financial independence. Read a profile on Deb in the ORHPC fall Quarterly. The Minnesota Nurses Association invited Craig Baarson and Judy Bergh to speak to their monthly field staff gathering about the Flex Program, Critical Access Hospitals and reimbursement issues. |
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ORHPC Grants and loans |
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The 2009 Community Clinic Grant Program pre-applications are due October 3. The program provides funding to plan, establish or operate services to improve the ongoing viability of Minnesota’s rural and urban clinic-based safety net providers. Grants help clinics serve people with low incomes, reduce current or future uncompensated care burdens, or improve care delivery infrastructure. Because of limited funding, applicants must submit pre-applications and the strongest of these will be invited to submit a final application. Applications are online or contact Deb Jahnke at debra.jahnke@state.mn.us or (651) 201-3845. Applications will be available October 6 for the Rural Hospital Capital Improvement Grant Program. Small rural hospitals may apply for grants of up to $125,000 to make needed facility and equipment improvements. Information is online or contact Doug Benson at (651) 201-3842 or doug.benson@state.mn.us. Rural Pharmacy Planning and Transition Grant applications are invited from rural communities and health care providers (hospital clinics, pharmacies, long term care or other health care facilities) by November 7. The program is intended to preserve access to prescription medication and the skills of a pharmacist in rural areas. Applications are online or contact Doug Benson at (651) 201-3842 or doug.benson@state.mn.us. The Loan Forgiveness Program for health professionals fiscal year 2010 applications are online or contact Amy Vallery at amy.vallery@state.mn.us or (651) 201-3870. The Electronic Health Record Loan Program provides no-interest six-year loans to help finance the installation or support of interoperable health record systems. Funding is available to community clinics, rural hospitals, physician clinics in towns under 50,000, nursing facilities, and other health care providers. Applications are online or contact Anne Schloegel at (651) 201-3850 or anne.schloegel@state.mn.us. |
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Other grants and loans |
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Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grant Program applications are due October 16. This program encourages public and nonprofit entities to develop new and innovative health care delivery systems in rural communities that lack essential care services. The program emphasizes service delivery through collaboration, requiring the grantee to form a consortium with at least two additional partners. Nursing schools and centers, academic health centers, governments and tribes are eligible to apply for the Nurse Education, Practice and Retention Grant by November 3 to address the nursing shortage. The Brookdale Leadership is accepting applications until November 6 for the Aging Fellowship Program to foster a new generation of leaders in the field of aging.
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snapshot |
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Minnesota’s physician workforce is rapidly approaching male-female balance. Overall, only 30 percent of active Minnesota physicians are female, but females account for 56 percent of physicians under 35 and 41 percent of physicians aged 35-44. As male-dominated cohorts of physicians retire, the overall female percentage will continue to increase. The median age of female physicians is 44, compared to 51 for males. More information is on the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care Workforce site or contact Jay Fonkert at (651) 201-3846 or jay.fonkert@state.mn.us. |
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opportunities |
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Rural Health Resource Center is accepting applications for a program coordinator and a program specialist. Community-Campus Partnerships for Health is calling for proposals by October 10 for the Creating the Future We Want to Be Conference. The 2009 Critical Access Hospital and Rural Health Conference is looking for a rural Minnesota image to promote next year's conference! If you've taken a photo that you'd like the planning committee to consider, please email it to health.orhpc@state.mn.us. Contact Kristen Tharaldson at kristen.tharaldson@state.mn.us or (651) 201-3863 if you are interested in being on the 2009 Conference Planning Committee. |
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News from our partners |
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The University of Minnesota School of Public Health named Ira Moscovice, Ph.D. as head of the Division of Health Policy and Management and Mayo Professor of Public Health. He will continue as director of the University’s Rural Health Research Center. Darrell Carter, M.D. received the first Affiliated Community Medical Center Physician Excellence Award. Dr. Carter was recognized for his leadership, innovation, clinical knowledge and dedication to his patients and community. Ten rural Minnesota communities have been selected to participate in Stratis Health's Minnesota Rural Palliative Care Initiative to establish or strengthen palliative care programs in their communities. Community teams in the Bemidji, New Ulm, Olivia, Red Wing, Roseau, Staples, Waconia, Wadena, Willmar and Winona areas will be working together through this initiative being led by Stratis Health, in partnership with Transitions and Life Choices, the palliative care program of Fairview Health Services. The Minnesota Ambulance Association has been working on its Minnesota Flex grant for Strike Team Training. The training formalizes Emergency Medical Service disaster response through the use of organized strike teams. A strike team was convened during the Republic National Convention, with nine ambulances stationed in the Twin Cities. The goal is for a team to be able to respond anywhere in Minnesota within four to six hours. Scholars and faculty from the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities joined the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health as part of the Health Disparities Field Experience. L. Read Sulik, medical director for child and adolescent psychiatry of the St. Cloud Hospital/CentraCare Health System, has been named assistant commissioner for Chemical and Mental Health Services for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, effective November 3. Greg Schoen, M.D., regional medical director at Fairview Northland Medical Center in Princeton testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee last month about Fairview Northland’s move to among the top hospitals in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Project. The Minnesota Health & Housing Alliance changed its name to Aging Services of Minnesota. |
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Now ReAD THIS |
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The Centers for Disease Control reports that alcohol-attributable deaths accounted for almost 12 percent of all American Indian and Alaskan Native deaths and the age-adjusted was approximately twice that of the U.S. general population. One consequence of high-deductible plans, the fastest-growing segment of the medical insurance market, is some patients are not paying their clinic. Medical students who attend racially and ethnically diverse medical schools say they are better equipped to care for patients in a diverse society, according to a new study led by the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. The students were also more likely to endorse access to care as a societal right rather than a privilege. The authors found no association between the diversity of a medical school and whether students intended to provide care in underserved areas. A new report says that a system that assigned a medical home to patients cut hospital admissions by 20 percent and costs by 7 percent. The concept of a medical home is part of Minnesota's Health Reform Initiative. Physician Care and Telemedicine addresses advances, benefits and obstacles in moving from the traditional system of health care. (PDF: 2pgs/643KB) A U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing on “Why Broadband Matters,” including the impact of access on telemedicine. Health Coverage in Communities of Color: Talking About the new Census Numbers is online (PDF: 4pgs/130KB) Courses in epidemiology, public health and global health—three subjects that were not offered by most colleges a generation ago—are drawing record numbers on campuses. The Access Project reported in September that farm and ranch families are paying top dollar for health insurance that inadequately covers their needs and causes them significant financial risk. Rural enrollment in Medicare Advantage continues to grow rapidly, led by private fee-for-service plans. (PDF: 6pgs/182KB) The Impact of CAH Conversion on Hospital Finances and mix of Inpatient Services study examined Medicare Cost Report and claims data for hospitals before and after CAH conversion (PDF: 22pgs/497KB). |
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SAVE THE DATE |
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The National Association of Community Health Centers is offering a series of webcasts in October and November. The 5 million Lives Campaign Rural Grand Rounds schedule includes dates in October, November and December (PDF:1pg/58KB). The 2008 Minnesota Council on Foundations Annual Conference: Nonprofits and Government is October 2-3 in St. Paul. The National Rural Health Association Rural Health Clinic and Critical Access Hospital Conference is October 14-17 in Savannah, Georgia. Fremont Community Clinics’ Gala is October 16 at the Ukranian Event Center in northeast Minneapolis to raise awareness of the role that community-based clinics play in providing care. The Many Faces of Community Health 2008 Conference: Prevention & Treatment of Diabetes at the Community Level is October 30-31 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Road MAPS to Patient Safety: Accelerating for Change is November 13-14 in Minneapolis at the Northland Inn. Information is online. The Midwest Rural Agricultural Safety and Health forum in November 20-21 in Davenport, Iowa. |
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View online all previous issues of the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care publications. |
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