Arizona Center for Rural Health receives $4.4 million in HRSA grants to bolster health services in outlying communities

The Arizona Center for Rural Health, part of the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, was awarded two grants by the Health Resources and Services Administration to support health services in rural communities, which historically lag behind urban areas in health care access.

The first grant will provide $3.17 million over five years for the Arizona Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, which supports Critical Access Hospitals in rural areas with training, data collection, analysis and dissemination to improve the quality of patient care and operational performance. The program has been continuously funded for the past 26 years.

The second grant will provide $1.25 million over five years to develop and implement seven programs that will recruit and train high-performing paramedics for rural emergency medical services providers. In rural communities, EMS agencies often struggle to recruit entry-level employees and retain high-performing paramedics.

“The funds from these two HRSA grants will strengthen our collaborating network of medical care and services in rural Arizona,” said Dan Derksen, MD, professor and director of the Arizona Center for Rural Health in the Zuckerman College of Public Health and associate vice president for health equity, outreach and interprofessional activities for the University of Arizona Health Sciences. “It will help us train, attract and retain skilled medical providers and emergency medical responders in our rural communities to enhance access to health services and improve health outcomes in our state.”

Arizona’s Rural Hospital Flexibility Program provides technical assistance, training and information resources for the population served by Arizona’s 17 Critical Access Hospitals and 55 Rural Health Clinics, 32 of which are affiliated with Critical Access Hospitals, as well as trauma and EMS providers.

Arizona has a large rural and underserved population. Using funds from the HRSA grant, the Center for Rural Health is collaborating with the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Emergency Medicine and the Arizona Department of Health Services to implement emergency medical responder and critical care paramedic programs at seven rural EMS agencies.

The critical care paramedic program will help retain high-performing paramedics, who will receive advanced training and support to implement critical care transport programs. Entry-level EMS providers will be recruited and trained to function at the emergency medical responder level as members of rural EMS teams. Finally, the project will help make the emergency medical responder and critical care paramedic programs sustainable by implementing critical care billing programs at rural EMS agencies. 

“I’m so proud of all that our Arizona Center for Rural Health has accomplished to improve health and medical services for our rural communities,” said Iman Hakim, MBBCh, PhD, dean of the Zuckerman College of Public Health. “These two grants will advance the good work that has already been done to improve public health and medical care for all Arizonans.”