Notice of Supplemental Funding, Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Evaluation Cooperative Agreement
HRSA is awarding supplemental funding under the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program Evaluation Cooperative Agreement to one award recipient in fiscal year 2026 to...
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION:
Notice of supplemental funding.
SUMMARY:
HRSA is awarding supplemental funding under the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program Evaluation Cooperative Agreement to one award recipient in fiscal year 2026 to expand analysis, evaluation, and dissemination activities that support Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and State Flex Programs.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sheena Johnson, Deputy Division Director, Hospital State Division, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, HRSA, at
sjohnson@hrsa.gov
and 872-271-6370.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Intended Recipient of the Award:
Regents of the University of Minnesota.
Amount of Non-Competitive Award:
$420,000.
Project Period:
July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
Assistance Listing Number:
93.241.
Award Instrument:
Cooperative Agreement.
Authority:
Section 711(b)(5) of the Social Security Act.
Table 1—Recipient and Award Amount
Grant No.
Award recipient name
City, state
Award amount
U27RH01080
Regents of the University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
$420,000
Justification:
The FLEX Program Evaluation Cooperative Agreement supports rural health care improvement by analyzing and presenting CAH data, capturing best practices, and developing resources that inform quality, financial, operational, population health, and emergency medical services improvement efforts. This funding will provide a one-time supplement to the Regents of the University of Minnesota to expand analytic, evaluation, dissemination, and technical assistance support for CAHs and State Flex Programs. The recipient will use supplemental funding to conduct additional analysis using new Flex Program data, feedback on the annual CAH assessment, strengthen dissemination activities and accessibility to products and resources, and develop new resources to help inform tribal hospitals on feasibility of converting to another hospital provider type (
e.g.,
CAH).