Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP)

For programmatic or technical assistance questions:
Krista M. Mastel, MPH
301.443.0491
[email protected]

For business, administrative, or fiscal questions:
Kimberly Dews
301.443.0655
[email protected]

Individual facilities may contact their State Office of Rural Health.

The Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) helps rural hospitals of 49 beds or less in meeting value-based payment and care goals for their respective organizations, through:

• Purchases of hardware, software, and training
• Join the Medicare Shared Savings Program or become accountable care organizations, and/or participate in other shared savings programs
• Purchase health information technology, equipment, and/or training to comply with quality improvement activities, such as advancing patient care information, promoting interoperability, and payment bundling

Each State Office of Rural Health (SORH) submits an application to HRSA on behalf of eligible hospital applicants in its state. The SORH is the official award recipient of record and serves as fiscal intermediary for all eligible hospitals within the state.

The State Office of Rural Health (SORH) in each state will be the official grantee and will act as a fiscal intermediary for all eligible small rural hospitals within their state.

Eligible small rural hospital is defined as a non-federal, short-term general acute care hospital that is located in a rural area and has 49 available beds or less, as reported on the hospital’s most recently filed Medicare Cost Report.

Estimated award amount: $13,011 per eligible hospital per year
Project period: 5 years
Estimated number of awards: 46
Estimated total program funding: $20,734,674

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and online application process are available through grants.gov.

Applicant webinar
August 31, 2022
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern
Call-in number: 833.568.8864
Meeting ID: 161 980 4226
Passcode: 41092373