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VRHA is pleased to announce the grand opening of a new facility for one of our members:

You are invited to join Carilion Giles Community Hospital for its Cornerstone and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremonies. Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 10:30am - 159 Hartley Way.

Guided tours and refreshments will be available.

By DelMarVaNow.com

VRHA Member, Eastern Shore Rural Health System Inc. was the recipient of the Virginia Emergency Management Association's Corporate Award at the 2010 Virginia Emergency Management Symposium. Nominated by Accomack County Emergency Management, Rural Health won this statewide award because of the assistance they provide to the Shore's three emergency management jurisdictions -- Accomack, Chincoteague and Northampton. They have an active role in each of the jurisdiction's Emergency Operations Centers during activations.

Read the full article.

VTN Update

Capital AHEC, The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, Medical Home Plus and Virginia Federation of Families are asking for your assistance in providing information on training and supports needed to advance the development of services for children and adolescents with special health care needs in the CAHEC region and in Virginia.  

Please take a few minutes to complete this important survey by May 7.  The survey will only take about ten minutes to complete.  Click on the link here to begin:  http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22ADTUF9APZ

Please forward this to other service providers as well as families of children with special health care needs.

By Greg Jordan - Bluefield Daily Telegraph

An open house gave the public its first opportunity to see a new health facility that will provide programming and services for the treatment of behavioral health, psychiatric, emotional and substance abuse illnesses to people in both of the Virginias.

The Behavioral Health Pavilion of the Virginias, situated in the former St. Luke’s Hospital, opened with tours that allowed the public to see the newest member of Mercer County’s health care community. Its facilities include 64 inpatient beds which include 30 beds for geriatric patients, 24 beds for adults, a 10-bed psychiatric intensive care unit and space for outpatient therapy and counseling.

Read the full article.

President Obama signed into law a piece of legislation known as the "Doc fix" that would prevent 21% cuts  to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule until May 31, 2010.  Additionally, this law will be retroactive to April 1, 2010.

The Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services has instructed contractors to start processing claims under the current law.  Many contractors had held off processing claims as they waited for Congress to act.  Had Congress not acted payments for physicians, non-physician practitioners and other professionals paid under  the MPFS would have seen significantly reduced payments, as required by the formula specified in the Medicare law. 

The cut in payments was originally scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2010 but was extended to March 1, 2010 by the Defense Appropriations Act of 2009 and extended again to April 1, 2010 by the Temporary Extenders Act of 2010.  The administration has said repeatedly that the Medicare formula is broken and needs to be fixed and that it will continue to work closely with congress to find a long-term solution to this problem.

By January W. Payne - U.S. News & World Report

For Vincent Proy, 28, deciding to become a rural family doctor wasn't a tough call. His father has a family practice in his hometown of Corry, Pa. (population 6,834), and growing up, Proy saw firsthand what the job was like. "I knew I wanted to practice rural family medicine because of all of the interesting challenges that my father faced," says Proy, who graduated in 2007 from the Physician Shortage Area Program at Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. 

Facing a continued shortage of primary-care physicians nationwide, and an especially tight supply in rural areas and small towns, medical schools are making an effort to recruit students like Proy to launch long-lasting careers in rural areas. While 1 in 5 U.S. residents lives in a rural area, just 9 percent of doctors practice there, according to a 2002 study. The shortage of primary-care doctors in rural areas isn't new, but it's poised to get worse. Fewer than 4 percent of recent medical school graduates say they intend to start their careers in rural areas or small towns. And the number of practicing physicians will shrink as baby boomers retire.

Read the full article.

By Suzanne Sataline and Shirley S. Wang -Wall Street Journal

The new federal health-care law has raised the stakes for hospitals and schools already scrambling to train more doctors. Experts warn there won't be enough doctors to treat the millions of people newly insured under the law. At current graduation and training rates, the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

A number of new medical schools have opened around the country recently. As of last October, four new medical schools enrolled a total of about 190 students, and 12 medical schools raised the enrollment of first-year students by a total of 150 slots, according to the AAMC. Some 18,000 students entered U.S. medical schools in the fall of 2009, the AAMC says.

But medical colleges and hospitals warn that these efforts will hit a big bottleneck: There is a shortage of medical resident positions. The residency is the minimum three-year period when medical-school graduates train in hospitals and clinics.

Read the full article.

Mark your calendar

For more information about these and other events, visit http://www.vrha.org/events.html

April 28: RAC 101 - conference call
April 30: STDs: Your Top 3 in Southwest Virginia - webinar
May 11 & 12: Southern Regional Rural Convening - Charlotte
May 12 & 13: VaCHA Leadership and Education Conference - Richmond
May 14: Strong Roots for a Healthy Future: Treatments that Work for Youth - Richmond
May 17 & 18: Statewide Summit on Childhood Obesity - Richmond
May 19 - 21: NRHA's Annual Rural Health Conference - Savannah, GA
June 2-5: National Association for Rural Mental Health Annual Conference - Denver, CO
June 16-18: Medication Use in Rural America Conference - Kansas City, MO

Resources

FrameWorks Institute focus on child mental health
FrameWorks' newest research demonstrates how communicators can best tell the scientific story of children's mental health and encourage public thinking about policies that address this issue. Models of the Mind is a 20-minute multi-media presentation using the real voices of FrameWorks' research informants to underscore the hurdles communicators face in engaging the public on child mental health.

What Health Reform Means for You
Cover the Uninsured has assembled a variety of online resources below that help explain what’s in the health reform law, when various provisions go into effect, and what it means for you.

New from the Medicare Learning Network
The Medicare Fraud and Abuse Web-based Training Course has been revised. The course provides information helpful for Medicare providers and suppliers involved in providing and billing for services to people with Medicare. This activity provides information that will increase awareness of Medicare fraud and abuse; provide information regarding correct billing practices, and help Medicare providers, suppliers and staff to file claims correctly.  The course offers continuing education credits; please see the course description page for details.

Funding Opportunities

State Farm Companies Grants Program
The State Farm Companies Grants Program strives to meet the needs of company communities in the U.S. and Canada by supporting nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies that focus on safety, community development, or education. The Safe Neighbors grant category focuses on driving safety, home protection, disaster preparedness, and personal financial security. The emphasis of the Strong Neighborhoods category is on affordable housing, homeownership issues, community revitalization, and economic development. The Educational Excellence category targets K-12 teacher development, service-learning programs, and systemic educational reform. Applications are accepted from January 2 through October 31, annually. Online application guidelines are available on the State Farm website.

Bank of America Charitable Foundation
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation focuses resources on creating neighborhood excellence in the communities throughout the United States where the bank does business. While the priorities of specific company communities drive how funding is used, giving at the local level typically falls into the following four generic categories: Community Development/Neighborhood Preservation, Education and Youth Development, Health and Human Services, and Arts and Culture. Requests may be submitted throughout the year. Visit the bank’s website to access the online application information.

Nursing Scholarship Program
Application deadline: May 6, 2010
Program provides scholarships to individuals for attendance at schools of nursing in exchange for two-year commitment to serve in shortage area.

Enhancing the Ability of Community- and Faith-Based Organizations to Deliver Virtual Career Exploration Services, Including Healthcare Careers
Application deadline: May 7, 2010
Funding for projects that expand access to healthcare career information using virtual career exploration services, especially to diverse populations, and reduce barriers to accessing those resources.

Healthcare Virtual Career Platform (HVCP)
Application deadline: May 7, 2010
Funding to prepare workers for careers in the healthcare sector.

Improving Quality and Value in Health Care: Ideas from the Field
Application deadline: May 19, 2010
Funding for promoting learning and knowledge about innovative efforts that address health care quality and value problems.

Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP)
Application deadline: Jun 1, 2010
The goal of the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) is to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to undertake education to enter a health profession.