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Southern Rural Access Program
Published: Nov 28, 2007
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The Southern Rural Access Program, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), implemented a range of activities to increase access to health care services in rural, underserved areas of eight southern states:
- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas (East Texas only) and West Virginia.
From early 1999 through mid-2006, state project teams undertook initiatives to:
- Develop a cadre of students in the health professions committed to practicing in rural areas.
- Recruit primary care providers to rural communities and retain them.
- Support collaborative networks of rural health providers.
- Develop revolving loan funds to help rural health providers finance improvements in their practices.
Key Results
- The program's recruitment and retention efforts had a positive effect on the growth of the primary care physician supply in 124 targeted high-poverty rural counties in the eight states, according to a program evaluation.
- The program helped strengthen the region's health infrastructure by supporting the development of rural health networks. Twenty-three networks received funding or technical assistance through the state grantee organizations or national program office.
- Seven revolving loan funds supported by the program helped finance millions of dollars in improvements for rural health providers, including the construction of new facilities, office renovations and equipment purchases.
- The program established collaborative relationships among and within the participating states that continued to benefit the region after the program ended.
For a look at key activities and outcomes in five of the participating states, see:
- Louisiana: Responding to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
- Mississippi: Recruiting and Retaining Rural Primary Care Providers.
- South Carolina: Developing a Pipeline of Rural Health Providers.
- Texas: Supporting Health Care Networks in Rural Areas.
- West Virginia: Developing a Health Care Revolving Loan Fund.
Funding
RWJF's Board of Trustees authorized up to $14.5 million for the program in July 1997 and reauthorized the program in January 2002 for up to an additional $22.5 million.
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- Evaluation of the Southern Rural Access Program (Evaluations)
- Southern Rural Access Program (Journal articles)
- Lessons Learned in Phase I of the Southern Rural Access Program (Journal articles)
- The Arkansas River Valley Rural Health Cooperative (Journal articles)
- Improving Access to Capital for Health Care Infrastructure (Journal articles)
- The Southern Rural Access Program (RWJF Anthology)
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Listed below are 15 of the grants that supported this project, totaling $10,007,624.
| Grant | Awarded to | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Technical assistance and direction for the Southern Rural Access Program |
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (Hershey, PA) ID#: 038223 Michael P. Beachler, M.P.H. 717-531-2090 mbeachler@psu.edu http://www.hmc.psu.edu |
Approved award: $732,893 Actual award: $718,633 July 2000 to June 2001 |
| Evaluation of the Southern Rural Access Program |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research (Chapel Hill, NC) ID#: 036829 Donald E. Pathman, M.P.H., M.D. 919-966-4270 pathman@schsr.unc.edu Thomas C. Ricketts, Ph.D. 919-966-7120 Tom_Ricketts@unc.edu |
Approved award: $1,090,566 Actual award: $1,090,036 May 2000 to October 2004 |
| Technical assistance and direction for the Southern Rural Access Program |
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (Hershey, PA) ID#: 048427 Michael P. Beachler, M.P.H. 717-531-2090 mbeachler@psu.edu http://www.hmc.psu.edu |
Approved award: $681,455 Actual award: $579,156 April 2005 to September 2006 |
| Assessment of the Southern Rural Access Program |
University of Southern Maine, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service (Portland, ME) ID#: 042654 Andrew F. Coburn, Ph.D. 207-780-4430 andyc@usm.maine.edu http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/ |
Approved award: $106,613 Actual award: $105,830 June 2001 to December 2001 |
| 21st Century Challenge Fund of the Southern Rural Access Program |
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (Hershey, PA) ID#: 039914 Michael P. Beachler, M.P.H. 717-531-2090 mbeachler@psu.edu http://www.hmc.psu.edu |
Actual award: $1,500,000 November 2000 to April 2004 |
| Technical assistance and direction for Southern Rural Access Program |
Geisinger Clinic (Danville, PA) ID#: 032761 Michael P. Beachler, M.P.H. 717-531-2090 mbeachler@psu.edu |
Approved award: $721,560 Actual award: $596,961 October 1997 to September 1998 |
RWJF may have supported this project with other grants that are not listed.
Evaluation of the Southern Rural Access Program
Publication date:
November 2005
Summary:
The Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP) was a multi-year initiative of the Foundation to improve access to primary health care services in rural areas. Led by Don Pathman, M.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the evaluation aimed to...
Southern Rural Access Program
By:
Beachler M, Holloman C and Herman J
Publication date:
January 2003
Summary:
Populations of rural communities in the United States often face difficulties in obtaining access to medical services. The problems are particularly acute in communities in the South where poverty levels and the number of uninsured are high. This article provides an...
Lessons Learned in Phase I of the Southern Rural Access Program
By:
Beachler M, Holloman C and Pathman DE
Publication date:
January 2003
Summary:
The Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP) was designed to improve health care access in underserved rural communities. This article reviews the lessons of the SRAP's first phase, summarizes its achievements and discusses some of the challenges faced by its...
The Arkansas River Valley Rural Health Cooperative
By:
Stewart MK, Redford R, Poe K, Veach D, Hines R and Beachler M
Publication date:
January 2003
Summary:
The Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP) is designed to improve access to basic health care in rural states. Developing local networks is one of the strategies for achieving this goal. This article describes programs developed through the Arkansas River...
Improving Access to Capital for Health Care Infrastructure
By:
Stewart MK, Beachler M and Slayton D
Publication date:
January 2003
Summary:
The need to improve access to capital for financing health care in underserved areas is widespread. Rural providers are often considered high risk by conventional financing sources because of insufficient levels of reimbursement, poor cash flow, lower patient...
The Southern Rural Access Program
By:
Diehl D
Publication date:
2007
Summary:
The most consistent priority of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been to expand access to medical care for underserved individuals, a disproportionate number of whom live in rural areas. The Foundation has employed a number of approaches to improve health...
Assessment of Physician Growth in Counties Targeted in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Southern Rural Access Program
By:
Pathman DE, Groves JS and Ricketts TC
Publication date:
August 16, 2006
Summary:
In 1997, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiated the Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP) to increase the number of primary care providers in underserved areas and to strengthen the capacity of rural communities to address their health care needs. The...
Growth in Physicians and Advanced-Practice Nurses in Counties Targeted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Southern Rural Access Program: 2002 and 2003
By:
Pathman DE, Groves J, Konrad TR, Ricketts TC and Thaker S
Publication date:
October 2005
Summary:
In 1997 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) solicited proposals from health care leaders in southeast states for a new initiative, the Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP). The program's goal was to support programs to increase the supply of primary care...
Grant Results Reports
RWJF produces Grant Results reports on its funded initiatives. External writers and editors read the entire grant to prepare each report, which is then reviewed by RWJF staff and by the director of the initiative. Any reviewer in the chain may ask for changes in the report to improve clarity or accuracy.
Read more about our approach.