Nevada Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

The Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex), administered by the federal Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), provides grants to states to assist rural hospitals and communities. The Flex program was established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

Since 1999, the Nevada State Office of Rural Health (SORH) in the Office of Statewide Initiatives based at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) has managed the Nevada Flex Program. This includes assistance with Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) designation process and facilitating CAH participation in Flex-funded technical assistance. Over the years, the SORH has received nearly $14 million to support CAHs.

The purpose of the Nevada FLEX Program is to ensure that high-quality health care is available to, and aligns with, each rural community's needs, including appropriate preventative, ambulatory, pre-hospital, emergency and inpatient care.

Flex-grant funding will support the state’s 13 CAHs in the following areas:

• CAH quality improvement: Enhancing patient and inpatient safety measures.
• CAH operational and financial improvements: Conducting statewide and individual facility needs assessments, developing action plans, and offering Performance Improvement Network education and training.
• Rural population health improvement: Identifying community needs and building strategies to address unmet health needs.
• Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) improvement: Providing needs assessments, education and training for rural EMS staff.

Western Regional FLEX Conference

For over 20 years our office has been the key coordinator of the Western Regional FLEX Conference and has collaborated with colleagues across western states. This event offers CAH administrators and staff, states’ FLEX program staff, and rural health care leaders the opportunity to share best practices and stay informed on the latest state and national health policy developments and their impact on rural hospitals, providers and communities.

FLEX EMS Supplemental

As of 2024, OSI has received supplemental funding of $1,250,000 from the federal Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex). Funding supports EMS agencies to improve and strengthen recruitment, retention, training and sustainability. Activities include building workforce pipelines by engaging with students and supporting training efforts to advance current personnel.

For additional information, please contact Laima Etchegoyhen, MPH, Senior Program Manager, OSI Outreach and Technical Assistance.