Delta Health Systems Implementation Program | HRSA 24 079

Opportunity Information: Apply for HRSA 24 079

The Delta Health Systems Implementation Program (DSIP) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designed to strengthen health care delivery in rural parts of the Delta region by helping small hospitals put targeted, practical improvements into action. The central aim is to improve hospitals financial sustainability while also expanding and stabilizing access to care for rural residents. DSIP is positioned as an implementation-focused extension of prior technical assistance efforts, meaning it is meant to fund real on-the-ground changes that follow recommendations hospitals received through structured technical assistance (rather than funding early-stage planning alone).

A key feature of DSIP is that it is limited to small rural hospitals in the Delta region that have already received technical assistance within the last five years through the Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program (DRCHSD) or another similar technical assistance program. DRCHSD provides intensive, multi-year, no-cost support to Delta region health care facilities, and DSIP essentially provides the resources to carry out the improvements identified through that assistance. Eligible hospitals are described as critical access hospitals or inpatient prospective payment system facilities with up to 100 beds, located in a rural county or parish within the Delta region.

Geographically, the program is specific to the Delta Regional Authority footprint, covering 252 counties and parishes across eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. Applicants are expected to confirm that they are located in an eligible Delta county or parish and that the location meets the rural definition. HRSA points applicants to the Delta Regional Authority map resources (https://dra.gov/about-dra/map-room) and to the Rural Health Information Hub tool for verifying rural status (https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/am-i-rural). The opportunity also requires applicants to include proof of the organizations location in a rural Delta county or parish as part of the application package (identified as Attachment 3).

DSIP projects are expected to fall within a set of practical focus areas that reflect common drivers of rural hospital stability and access: financial and operational improvement, quality improvement, telehealth expansion (including related financial and operational system enhancements), workforce recruitment and retention, and development of new service lines that address community needs, including the needs of populations that have been historically underserved. In practice, this can include initiatives like improving revenue cycle performance and point-of-service collections, optimizing emergency department operations, increasing outpatient offerings, and strengthening inpatient or swing-bed utilization where appropriate. On the clinical and quality side, examples include reducing avoidable readmissions, improving transitions of care and discharge planning, implementing performance measurement systems, strengthening clinical documentation integrity, and using data analytics to monitor and improve performance. For telehealth, the notice highlights both expanding telehealth services and enhancing cybersecurity, reflecting the operational reality that virtual care expansion often requires stronger IT infrastructure and risk management. Workforce-related activities may include recruitment strategies, adopting technology that improves clinical efficiency, simulation-based training, and leadership development approaches such as rounding practices intended to improve both patient experience and staff satisfaction.

Award management is framed around measurable improvement rather than one-size-fits-all reporting. HRSA indicates it will work with grant recipients to identify appropriate measures that demonstrate gains in financial sustainability and capture the impact of the specific implementation project being funded. This suggests performance expectations will be tied to the chosen intervention areas, such as financial performance indicators, service capacity measures, quality outcomes, telehealth utilization, or workforce stability metrics.

From an applicant eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is broadly open in terms of organizational type as long as the project is anchored in an eligible rural Delta location and meets the hospital and prior-technical-assistance requirements. The eligible applicant categories listed in the source data include various government entities, tribal governments and organizations, nonprofits (including 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), and other entities, reflecting flexibility in who may serve as the applicant of record depending on local structure and partnerships. The funding instrument is a grant under CFDA 93.912, and the opportunity is labeled HRSA-24-079.

In terms of scale and competitiveness, the notice lists an award ceiling of $400,000 and anticipates making about 5 awards. The original closing date provided is June 24, 2024, and the posting date in the source data is April 24, 2024. Overall, DSIP is best understood as a targeted investment program for rural Delta hospitals that have already done the diagnostic work through prior technical assistance and are now positioned to implement concrete operational, quality, telehealth, workforce, and service-line changes that can keep the hospital financially viable and improve access to care in the surrounding community.

• The Health Resources and Services Administration in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Delta Health Systems Implementation Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for HRSA 24 079

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