Activities

DOH is responsible for activities in 3 of Washington's 6 initiatives.

Initiative 2: Prevent disease and manage care in community settings

2.11 Expand community workforce
2.3 EMS interfacility transport
2.41 Care-a-Van
2.44 Community hubs

Initiative 5: Develop Washington's rural workforce to support rural communities

5.3 Rural Nursing Education Program (RNEP)
5.41 Grow-Your-Own training
5.5 Rural workforce incentives

Initiative 6: Expand and sustain Washington's rural behavioral health system

6.11 Expand mobile crisis support

2.11 - Expand community workforce

Goal: Increase the number and ability of Community Health Workers (CHWs) to address Washington’s rural health care needs.

Year 1 budget: $2.2 million

DOH is expanding CHW training and working with rural organizations to integrate CHWs into their care teams.

Currently, Washington has a CHW Core Competency Training. As part of RHTP, DOH is developing a new rural-focused curriculum. This will be an add-on to the core training. It will help CHWs address the unique challenges rural communities face.

We are developing the training in collaboration with rural CHWs, health care providers and community partners. This will ensure the training reflects the realities of rural practice. Pilot testing in rural communities will help us improve the training before we release it statewide.

We will use our existing CHW Learning Management System (LMS) to deliver the training. This will provide access to high-quality online education for rural learners.

RHTP funding will also increase LMS capacity. This will allow for more participants. With more participants, we can open up the training to a broader set of health care professionals. We plan to recruit pharmacy technicians and other health care workers to do the CHW training.

DOH will also use RHTP funding for financial incentives for rural hospitals and community organizations to integrate CHWs and digital navigators into care planning and service delivery.

This initiative will prepare CHWs with practical skills to:

Improve care coordination
Increase access to services
Support telehealth use
Connect individuals with community resources

The expected impacts on rural Washington from this project are to:

Improve CHW integration into rural care teams
Enhance access to specialty and preventive services
Reduce missed appointments
Strengthen collaboration between health care providers and community organizations

Point of contact: Lydia Guy-Ortiz, Community Workforce & Partnerships Section Manager

2.3 - EMS interfacility transport

Goal: Modernize Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and transport services and strengthen regional transfer agreements to reduce emergency treatment delays.

Year 1 budget: $3 million

DOH is using RHT funds to modernize EMS and transport services and strengthen regional transfer agreements. This will reduce delays for trauma, cardiac, stroke, and other time-sensitive emergencies. DOH is working with the Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC) infrastructure and existing data systems (WA Health, WATrac) to support bed tracking, coordination and statewide interfacility transfers.

This activity includes 6 areas of work:

Rural Interfacility Transfer Capacity
Goal: Improve rural EMS capacity for long-distance interfacility patient transports while maintaining emergency response coverage.

Statewide Interfacility Transfer Coordination Center
Goal: Improve coordination of rural patient transfers through a centralized statewide transfer center.

Rural Motor Vehicle Crash Prevention
Goal: Reduce preventable rural traffic fatalities through targeted prevention efforts.

Rural Neurosurgical Specialty Support
Goal: Improve access to neurosurgical expertise for rural trauma patients.

Rural Trauma Training & Team Development
Goal: Strengthen trauma education and readiness across rural hospitals and EMS agencies.

Rural Prevention & Behavioral Health SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment)
Goal: Improve early identification and intervention for alcohol and substance misuse in rural trauma systems.

Point of contact: Catie Holstein, Executive Director for Emergency Care Systems

2.41 - Care-a-Van

Goal: Improve health outcomes in rural communities by making care more accessible, timely, and local by increasing the number of preventive and telehealth services delivered through mobile health.

Year 1 budget: $498,000

DOH’s Care-a-Van Mobile Health Services delivers no-cost preventive care services and health education to people across Washington state. Under RHT, Care-a-Van is shifting to focus on bringing services directly to residents specifically in rural communities. Care-a-Van will deliver mobile public health services by bringing together health and social care partners to create comprehensive care events once per month, called “mobile health village,” to maximize community impact through partnerships. Services offered include:

Chronic disease screening and management
Opioid prevention and naloxone distribution
Mental health
Telehealth referrals
Connection to local care homes
Access to health technology

Point of contact: Rebecca Baron, Mobile Health and Outreach Manager

2.44 - Community hubs

Goal: Improve health outcomes for rural residents by increasing access to prevention programs, health resources, and social services in community-based settings close to home.

Year 1 budget: $535,000

DOH is using RHT funds to develop and expand existing community gathering spaces into community engagement hubs that bring health services and resources to rural residents outside of clinical systems. Sites may include places such as senior centers, churches, schools, and libraries. The hubs will be places where community members can access prevention program resources and connect to services for social needs.

Point of contact: Ky Beeson, Rural Health Transformation Program Strategist

5.3 - Rural Nursing Education Program (RNEP)

Goal: Address the nursing shortage in rural Washington by expanding a community-based education model that trains students within their home communities and retains them post-graduation.

Year 1 budget: $3.77 million

Through RHT, DOH is expanding the Rural Nursing Education Program (RNEP), a rural, community-based nursing education program. RNEP helps address the rural nursing shortage by training students within their own communities while providing comprehensive student support services. Learn more about the program on our RNEP page.

Point of contact: Reesa Reonal, Rural Nursing Education Program (RNEP) Program Manager

5.41 - Grow-Your-Own training

Goal: Strengthen the rural healthcare workforce by funding locally based training and career pathway programs that recruit, train, and retain workers within their communities.

Year 1 budget: $10 million

DOH is using RHT funds to create “grow-your-own” workforce training programs in rural communities. These programs range from apprenticeships and on-the-job training to career exploration programs for rural adults and school-age children to supporting infrastructure, program development and additional initiatives. Efforts aim to build a sustainable, locally trained health care workforce which can help ease staffing shortages.

Point of contact: Hannah Moats, Grow Your Own Workforce Coordinator

5.5 - Rural workforce incentives

Goal: Strengthen the rural health workforce by recruiting and retaining health professionals in high-need areas through financial incentives and supporting the community conditions that help them stay long-term.

Year 1 budget: $9.88 million

DOH is providing financial incentives for health professionals who commit to at least 5 years of service in rural communities. During Performance Period 1, DOH will award 50 to 100 incentives, ranging from $15,000 to $100,000, prioritizing areas with the greatest need. The program aims to strengthen workforce recruitment and retention while supporting community conditions that help professionals stay in rural areas. This includes awards to health care employers to be used as incentives for individual providers. It also includes awards to rural community-based organizations working to increase the availability of childcare.

Point of contact: Faire Holliday, Rural Workforce Incentives Program Coordinator

6.11 - Expand mobile crisis support

Goal: Invest in mobile crisis response and mobile stabilization services, including investment in Emergency Medical Services (EMS), primarily around substance abuse and mental health care.

Year 1 budget: $2.88 million

DOH will use RHT funds to invest in mobile crisis response and mobile stabilization services, in alignment with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Behavioral Health Crisis Care Guidance framework.

This activity includes 5 areas of work:

Expand medical oversight for innovative EMS opioid/behavioral health programs
Goal: Strengthen county Medical Program Director support for EMS innovation.

Buprenorphine Administration Programs
Goal: Expand EMS-based buprenorphine administration programs.

EMS Opioid Response Training
Goal: Modernize EMS education related to opioid response and substance use disorders.

Naloxone Distribution Program
Goal: Expand EMS access to naloxone and support leave-behind programs.

EMS Mental Health & Burnout Prevention
Goal: Improve behavioral health support and resiliency for rural EMS providers.

Point of contact: Catie Holstein, Executive Director for Emergency Care Systems

This webpage is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $181,257,515.06 to the Washington State Health Care Authority with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CMS/HHS or the U.S. Government.