Stormont Vail Health, PrairieLINK Awarded KDHE Grant to Advance Rural Health Transformation
A coalition of healthcare and community partners across northeast and north central Kansas has been awarded $5,465,969 through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Regional Partnership Grant Program (RPGP), a key initiative of the State’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). The funding will support the continued development of the PrairieLINK Health Alliance of Kansas, a collaborative regional effort focused on strengthening access, coordination, and long-term sustainability of rural healthcare services.
PrairieLINK is a partnership among Stormont Vail Health Flint Hills Campus and rural clinics, Morris County Hospital and rural clinics, Community HealthCare System and rural clinics, F.W. Huston Medical Center and rural clinic, Midland Care Connection, and Kansas State University. Together, these organizations represent a diverse network of critical access hospitals, rural providers, community-based organizations, and academic leaders working to improve care delivery and health outcomes across a multi-county region.
“We are deeply grateful to KDHE for their support in making this funding possible and for recognizing the strength of collaboration across our region,” said Mark Slyter, President and CEO of Stormont Vail Health. “We are appreciative for their partnership and for the opportunity to successfully secure funding alongside our community partners. Together, we are building on trusted relationships to create a more coordinated, connected system of care that supports patients, providers, and rural communities now and into the future.”
PrairieLINK’s service area spans 11 counties, many of which are medically underserved and facing workforce shortages alongside rising rates of chronic disease. At the same time, rural hospitals are under increasing financial pressure, underscoring the need for new models of care that improve efficiency while maintaining access close to home.
Through PrairieLINK, partners will focus on expanding telehealth capabilities, improving access to specialties such as neurology, critical care, infectious disease, and behavioral health, and implementing shared care pathways to enhance quality and reduce unnecessary transfers. Additional efforts will include strengthening regional data-sharing capabilities and integrating prevention and wellness strategies, including Kansas State University’s Exercise is Medicine program, to improve chronic disease management and overall population health. Midland Care Connection will contribute its nationally recognized “Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly” (PACE) program, an innovative, community-based model that integrates medical and social services to help seniors remain safely in their homes while receiving comprehensive, coordinated care.
The grant will provide funding to advance the infrastructure and governance of a clinically integrated network (CIN) with a performance framework to support value-based care models. Stormont Vail will support the CIN with system-level leadership, expertise, and support services.
“Rural healthcare is essential to the health and vitality of our communities,” said Heidi Pickerell, F.W. Huston Medical Center CEO. “This funding allows us to work collectively to expand access, support our local providers, and build a stronger, more sustainable system so patients can receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.”
