Flex Rural Veterans Health Access Program

The goal of the Kentucky Office of Rural Health’s response to HRSA’s Rural Veterans Health Access Program (RVHAP) surrounds collaborating with rural stakeholders and the provider community in order to improve access to needed health care services as well as to improve the coordination of care for veterans living in rural areas throughout Kentucky. Plans include implementing a variety of strategies to improve the capacity of critical access hospitals (CAHs) and other rural health care organizations with the intent of better providing services that meet the needs of veterans living in the Commonwealth’s rural areas. All proposed RVHAP activities are designed to increase enrollment of veterans, living in rural areas into the VA benefits system- which is expected to improve access to care by allowing rural veterans to receive VA services and benefits. Our proposed program will allow for the recruitment of and coordination with a variety of providers in rural areas whom can assist rural veterans in meeting their health care needs. Our proposed activities will target Kentucky’s critical access hospitals, but may also include providers within the VA system, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), community health workers, mental health providers and community mental health centers, social service providers, local government, and other rural health stakeholders or providers in meeting the needs of Kentucky’s rural veterans. Essential to all proposed activities is the engagement of veterans themselves and/or veteran advocates. Forty-four percent of Kentucky veterans call rural Kentucky home. Twenty-eight percent of those veterans are reported as living in a county home to a Critical Access Hospitals. The Carrollton VA Clinic and VA Clinic Berea are the only two VA operated community-based outpatient clinics located in Kentucky’s twenty-seven CAH counties. Thus, it is critical we work to ensure access of care for the Commonwealth’s rural veterans by way of exploring new and innovative strategies beyond traditional methods.