More than 500 applicants seek share of Louisiana rural health millions

The Department of Health said they will not know how many total applicants will be denied until October. 

The money is being distributed through several programs covering hospital improvements, telehealth, workforce recruitment, specialty care, alternative payment models and nutrition initiatives. But demand is already exceeding the amount available in some categories.

Applicants that are not selected will be notified and told why, according to Julie Foster Hagan, executive director of Louisiana's Office of Rural Health Transformation and Sustainability. Some may be ineligible, some may not have provided enough information to be scored and others may simply rank below competing applications.

The clearest example is Louisiana’s capital improvement program, which helps rural health facilities purchase equipment and make smaller renovations intended to improve or expand care.

Louisiana received 160 applications for the program, but federal rules limit spending on those projects to 20% of the state’s award, or about $41.6 million.

“This program is capped at 20%,” Hagan told the Louisiana Rural Health Transformation Program Advisory Council on Thursday. “They say you can't spend more than 20% of your dollars on these types of programs.”

Hagan said rural providers identified equipment and facility improvements as a major need, prompting Louisiana to dedicate the maximum amount allowed under federal rules.

Even that will not be enough.

“We know that we got a lot more requests than that in the 160 applications that we received,” Hagan said. “So this one is going to be more competitive because I don't have wiggle room. I can't go over that $41.6 million.”

The competition extends well beyond construction and equipment.

Louisiana received 79 applications for telehealth funding, which can cover internet and wiring upgrades as well as technology used to provide remote care. Hagan said those applications are being scored, with award announcements expected by the end of August.

Another 37 applications were submitted for the collaborative provider model, which is intended to help rural hospitals and other providers pool resources to bring specialists into communities that could not support them individually.

The state also received 31 applications for alternative payment models, 25 for care conveners and navigation networks and 37 for its Food is Medicine initiative.