Vermont says it has committed the full approximately $195 million in its first-year Rural Health Transformation award, with funding directed toward health services, facilities, technology and workforce programs.
The state's Oct. 30 funding update says the commitments have been documented with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Committed funding is not the same as money already paid out or a service already operating.
The published list of executed agreements includes $9.06 million for a Vermont Student Assistance Corporation health-workforce financial-aid program, $4.9 million for University of Vermont Health's shared electronic medical-record work and $750,000 apiece for five community paramedicine recipients.
Community paramedicine brings medical care beyond a conventional ambulance trip, while shared medical records aim to let providers use a common patient-information system.
The list does not account for every dollar of the award. The state says some commitments do not require individual grant agreements, some cover administration or payment arrangements, and a small number of agreements are not fully signed.
An organization's absence from the list therefore does not mean it was rejected. Vermont says it is continuing to consider proposals for the program's second year.