The National Health Center Immigration Workgroup has updated its FAQs on the Public Charge rule effective March 1. The updated FAQs now include information about the rule’s Feb. 24, 2020 effective date and the factors beyond the use of public benefits that immigration officers will consider when deciding whether or not to approve an application for a Green Card. These resources and more are available on NACHC’s Caring for Immigrant Patients webpage.

This toolkit from the Rural Health Information Hub was produced in collaboration with the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis.  It compiles evidence-based and promising models to help rural communities implement programs that address social determinants of health.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) has provided the following information for supporting vulnerable friends and families in substance use recovery:

• PA Department of Drug & Alcohol Facebook page with support links for Get Help Now Hotline, Family, online/virtual recovery supports, and more:  https://www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDDAP/
• SAMHSA links to information on telemedicine; tips for social distancing/quarantine/isolation; guidance for opioid treatment programs; disaster planning & crisis care…https://www.samhsa.gov/
• Pro-A developed a list of online recovery supports, including AA, NA, Refuge Recovery, SMART Recovery, and many more.  http://pro-a.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/PROA-Online-Support-Resource-list-31720.pdf
• Recovery support organizations who may offer online/virtual recovery support information:

• • Faces & Voices of Recovery (national resource):  https://facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/about/who-we-are/
  • PRO.A:  http://pro-a.org/
  • for SE Pennsylvania, PRO-ACT
  • for Western PA, Message Carriers
  • In central PA, RASE Project

POSTPONED – Due to an abundance of caution and in accordance with the National Emergency Declaration concerning the COVID-19, the Healthy People 2030 launch event originally scheduled for March 31 has been postponed.

Sign up for email updates to receive notification when the event is rescheduled.

After somberly recounting overdose deaths in his own family, HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan delivered a moving appreciation of local community leaders and clinicians for quickly responding to a set of HRSA initiatives that have brought care and treatment to small town rural America where once there was none.

Starting in 2015 with fewer than 20 grantees distributing Narcan overdose-reversal kits in remote towns, HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) has grown its recovery effort into the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program. It now involves nearly 250 grantees with counselors and outreach workers in 1,000 communities in 47 states.

Read more about HRSA’s efforts to take on rural substance misuse.

March 19, 2020

 TYRONE/DUBOIS, PA – The Boards of Directors of both Tyrone Hospital and Penn Highlands Healthcare have signed a Letter of Intent to negotiate an affiliation agreement between the two entities that would integrate Tyrone Hospital into Penn Highlands Healthcare system.

The Tyrone Hospital Board of Directors led an extensive Request for Proposal process and determined that Penn Highlands Healthcare would be a perfect long-term partner to meet the healthcare needs of the area.

The mission of Penn Highlands Healthcare is to provide exceptional care through its community-based health system while maintaining a reverence for life.  “The Penn Highlands mission resonated with our organization,” said Kelly Wike, Board President of Tyrone Hospital Board of Directors.  “Tyrone Hospital has always been committed to serving our patients with the highest quality of care, and we believe that affiliating with Penn Highlands will continue to honor that longtime commitment.”

The affiliation with Penn Highlands Healthcare, anticipated to take effect in late 2020, is designed to strengthen the delivery of healthcare services by the Blair County-based health care provider.  The board’s key objectives that guided the search for a new partner included:

• Continue the spirit of the mission, vision and values of Tyrone Hospital
• Maintain and expand key programs and services
• Attract and retain high-quality physicians and advanced practice providers in a wide range of specialties
• Preserve jobs in Blair County and provide competitive wages, benefits and retirement plans
• Provide the necessary capital investment to support quality and growth
• Maintain a meaningful role in local governance of the hospital

“Penn Highlands Healthcare is expanding our footprint across the region with the launch of our Master Facility Plan project in 2018,” according to Dick Pfingstler, Chairman of Penn Highlands Healthcare Board of Directors, “The affiliation with Tyrone Hospital broadens our reach while also supporting their history of offering quality health care.”

Anna Marie Anna, Acting CEO agreed.  “Penn Highlands Healthcare is an ideal partner for our hospital and our community given that they operate other like-sized hospitals in the area.  Penn Highlands understands the needs of communities like ours, and is committed to building on our past success.”

“We are thrilled with this opportunity to partner with Tyrone Hospital,” said Steve Fontaine, CEO of Penn Highlands Healthcare.  “We believe that Tyrone Hospital shares our vision to be the integrated health system of choice and will enable us to serve more patients with the highest quality care.”

The signing of the letter of intent means that Tyrone Hospital and Penn Highlands Healthcare have agreed to general terms and conditions of a prospective affiliation.  Throughout the next several months, both parties will engage in additional due diligence, research and discussions to work toward a definitive agreement.  This process is subject to customary regulatory review.

About Tyrone Regional Health Network

Tyrone Hospital was founded by the community in 1954.  In June 2014, Tyrone Regional Health Network (TRHN) was announced to better reflect the entities and variety of services that are part of Tyrone Hospital.

TRHN consists of Tyrone Hospital, a twenty-five bed community hospital that provides general medical and surgical care, three primary care physician offices which include Tyrone Rural Health Center, Pinecroft Medical Center and Houtzdale Rural Health Center. Its services include the Breast Cancer & Women’s Health Institute, an orthopedic clinic, a cardiology clinic, Company Healthcare and the Tyrone Fitness & Wellness Center.  The Tyrone Regional Health Network Foundation and the Tyrone Hospital Auxiliary conduct fund raising activities to support Tyrone Hospital and other entities within the network.  For more information visit www.tyroneregionalhealthnetwork.org.

About Penn Highlands Healthcare

Penn Highlands Healthcare was officially formed on September 30, 2011, and is comprised of five hospitals – Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk and Penn Highlands Huntingdon that have served area communities for the past 100 years. Its business continuum also includes a home care agency, Penn Highlands Community Nurses; two long-term care facilities, Pinecrest Manor and Penn Highlands Jefferson Manor; and a senior residential living facility, Elco Glen.

Through this partnership, Penn Highlands Healthcare has evolved into an organization with approximately 4,400 workers in 120+ locations throughout 13 counties in North Central/Western Pennsylvania that include community medical buildings, outpatient facilities, surgery centers and physician practices.

Providing exceptional quality care to the region, it has 499 physicians and 273 advanced practice providers on staff. The facilities have a total of 705 inpatient and skilled nursing beds. The system offers a wide range of care and treatments with specialty units that care for cancer, cardiovascular/thoracic, neurosurgery, pulmonology, neonatal and high-risk pregnancy patients.

Being focused on what is important – patients and families – makes Penn Highlands Healthcare the best choice in the region. For more information, visit www.phhealthcare.org.

February 25, 2020

Newly available in Alaska, CRAFT is a unique therapy that aims to help people with substance use disorders by first helping the people who love them.

Read more

On March 16, 2020, the Trump Administration announced aggressive actions and regulatory flexibilities to help health care providers and states respond to and contain the spread of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking several actions following President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency due to COVID-19 earlier today.

A press release outlining CMS announcement can be found here:  https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-takes-action-nationwide-aggressively-respond-coronavirus-national-emergency

A fact sheet outlining these actions can be found here: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/covid19-emergency-declaration-health-care-providers-fact-sheet.pdf

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) has opened applications for three of its loan repayment programs: the NHSC Loan Repayment Program, the NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program and the NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program. NHSC encourages all eligible clinicians passionate about helping patients in underserved communities to apply. All programs use one application, but applicants can only apply to one program. The applications will remain open until April 23. NHSC will host several Q & A sessions to review program requirements and answer application questions.

Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and John Hoeven (R-ND) recently introduced legislation to extend the Frontier Community Health Integration Program (FCHIP), which expired last summer. Under this program, ten Critical Access Hospitals across Montana, Nevada, and North Dakota would test new health care delivery and reimbursement models. Specifically, FCHIP allows additional Skilled Nursing Facility or Nursing Facility beds, supports telehealth expansion, and reimburses ambulance service expenses. The announcement comes amid an accelerating hospital closure crisis where 47% of rural hospitals are vulnerable. You can follow this bill via the National Rural Health Association Legislative Tracker.