Tuesday, June 17, 2025
6/17/2025
Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program - Project Title: Virginia Rural Health Workforce Collaborative Applicant Organization Name: Virginia Rural Health Association Address: 200 Memorial Drive Luray, VA 22835 Website: vrha.org Applicant Organization Facility Type: Rural Health Association Project Director: Danielle Montague, MPH, Program Coordinator Contact Information: danielle@vrha.org, (540) 231-7923 Proposed workforce training track: Track #1 – Community Based Support For this project, the Collaborative will follow Track #1 - Community Health Support of the RPHWTN program. The area of workforce training need will focus on cross-training in high value areas to improve operational and clinical capacity. A secondary area of need specific to doulas will consider how doulas can be utilized in high-risk pregnancies and how they can be leveraged to help link pregnant patients to broader social and mental health services to encourage enhanced outcomes. Target Service Area(s): If funded, the catchment area of the hospitals in the Carilion Clinic and Sovah Health systems will serve as the rural target service area. This includes Franklin, Giles, Henry, Pittsylvania, Rockbridge, and Tazewell counties, as well as Danville, Martinsville, and Lexington cities (which are independent of their surrounding counties, though still classified as rural). Proposed network partner organizations: Carilion Clinic, Sovah Health, the New River/Mt Rogers Workforce Development Board, the Blue Ridge/Western Virginia Workforce Development Board, the Western Piedmont Workforce Development Board, United Way of Roanoke Valley, and VRHA Total funding amount requested for the entire three-year period of performance: 1,545,000.00 Capacity to serve rural underserved populations: The mission of Virginia Rural Health Association is to improve the health of rural Virginians through education, advocacy, and fostering cooperative partnerships. VRHA has a 20-year history of bringing together rural health stake holders in Virginia to develop strategic plans and implement projects, including two projects funded through the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Network Development Planning Grants which are still operational. To support the goals of the RPHWTN program, the VRHA is proposing to use this grant opportunity to develop the Virginia Rural Health Workforce Collaborative (the Collaborative). The Collaborative would train approximately 110 new Community Health Support workers as Community Health Workers, doulas, LPNs, and similar positions at the associate degree level or below, in order to strengthen the public health safety net in rural Virginia. The development of the Collaborative would not only increase career opportunities for individuals who wish to enter the public health/healthcare workforce but also increase access to care and resources for community members seeking a variety of services, from prenatal care to recovery services. If funded, the goal of the Collaborative is to address the ongoing critical need in health care facilities for trained public health professionals serving rural communities in Virginia. With consideration to this goal, the network members have developed the following objectives: Objective 1: To establish a system of recruiting rural community members for job development, training, and placement by July 31, 2025 Objective 2: To provide job development, training, and placement in community health fields for 110 rural community members by July 31, 2025 Virginia Rural Health Association is requesting a funding preference based on qualification 2. All 9 target counties are in a Medically Underserved Community/Population. Virginia Rural Health Association is requesting special consideration based on the inclusion of a signed MOA/U from all network partners included in Attachment 11.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).