Small Rural Hospital Improvement
Grant Program (SHIP)

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) authorized funds from the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP) to be used in three categories:

  1. Value-based Purchasing (VBP)
  2. Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)/Shared Savings
  3. Payment Bundling (PB) or Prospective Payment System (PPS) Investment Activities

What is SHIP?

SHIP assists small rural hospitals with activities including purchasing equipment and/or training to help attain the value-based purchasing provision of the ACA, joining or becoming accountable care organizations and/or creating shared savings programs per the ACA, and purchasing health information technology, equipment, and/or training to comply with ICD-11 standards and payment bundling.

SHIP Applicant Resources

For eligible hospitals that are submitting sub-contracts for funding, links are provided below to the federal Notice of Award (NOA), dated May 28, 2024; the approved application submitted to the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy; and the list of allowable expenses.  Please refer to these documents when completing your sub-contract.  If you have questions, please contact Lannette Fetzer, Quality Improvement Coordinator, at lmj29@psu.edu or (814) 863-8842. Thank you.

Resources

Rural Pennsylvania hospitals interested in determining eligibility for participating in SHIP should contact the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health at: (814) 863-8214.