HRSA COVID-19 Funding for Rural Health Clinics

RHCVC Grant Deadlines: These grant funds must be used by 6/30/22. For more information: view the HRSA, RHC Vaccine Confidence (RHCVC) Deadlines document here.

Program details from HRSA: https://www.hrsa.gov/coronavirus/rural-health-clinics/confidence

For Technical Assistance (TA), contact: rhcvaxconfidenceinfo@nosorh.org

To contact HRSA: rhcvaxconfidence@hrsa.gov

Vax Confidence Program Ideas and Resources: https://www.immunizationmanagers.org/resources-toolkits/vaccine-confidence-toolkit/

Vaccine Confidence Ideas Grantees have made excellent use of their grant funds to increase vaccine confidence within their communities! To see some of the great ideas shared with us, visit the Vaccine Confidence Ideas page.

 

Grant Management Resources

Electronic Handbook (EHB):

EHB link: https://grants.hrsa.gov/2010/WebEPSExternal/Interface/Common/AccessControl/Login.aspx

All grantees must register in the Electronic Handbook (EHB). The EHB is the grant management portal HRSA uses to administer their awarded grants.

If you have any troubles with EHB, please contact the support center as they know best how to navigate, and troubleshoot their system:
EHB Customer Support Center
Phone: (877) 464-4772
7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)
Monday through Friday
https://www.hrsa.gov/about/contact/ehbhelp.aspx

HHS Payment Management System (PMS):

PMS link: https://pms.psc.gov

All grantees must register in the Payment Management System (PMS). The PMS is a tool to help grant recipients draw down funds and file the Federal Financial Report (FFR).

Federal Cash Transaction Report (FCTR) Effective April 1, 2022, grant recipients will no longer complete the quarterly FCTR. Additional information is available here.

*New* How to Draw Funds document: This one-page document includes instructions and screen shots for requesting funds or making a draw of federal grant funds from the Payment Management System (PMS). View that document here.

The Federal Financial Report (FFR) is due October 30, 2022.
All grantees must submit an annual Federal Financial Report (FFR). The report should reflect cumulative reporting within the project period (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2022). All FFRs will be submitted through the Payment Management System (PMS).

PMS User Guide: https://pms.psc.gov/training/pms-user-guide.html

PMS Grant Recipient Online Training (2 hrs) – held for HRSA RHCVC grantees March 4, 2022
Recording link: View here
Slides: View here

In this two-hour session, attendees will learn how to:
– Access PMS
– Complete a payment request
– Perform APEX inquiries
– Run report requests
– Complete the Federal Financial Report (FFR)

If you have any troubles with PMS, please contact the help desk as they know best how to navigate, and troubleshoot their system:
PMS Help Desk
Phone: 1-877-614-5533
Contact the ONE DHHS Help Desk for issues regarding your draw-down requests, password resets, and the FFR. Always have your PMS PIN, payment account number (PAN), or EIN handy.

PMS Liaison – They can assist you with questions related specifically to your account. 

Have your PMS PIN, payment account number (PAN), or EIN handy.
Go to this website to locate your liaison: https://pms.psc.gov/find-pms-liaison-accountant.html 

Starting February 22, 2022, HRSA began a limited Financial Management Reviews (FMR) of all RHC Vaccine Confidence grant recipients who have not already had a recent FMR completed or who have not had a recent single audit* performed. HRSA’s Division of Financial Integrity (DFI), located within the Office of Federal Assistance Management (OFAM), will be contacting the Authorized Official and Program Director registered in the Electronic Handboodk(EHB) for this grant. 

This is not an Audit! Their goal is to determine your organization’s capability for financial management of federal funds. The FMR can help grantees ensure that your organizational policies include the necessary financial management categories needed to administer your awards according to federal regulations and grant terms and conditions. Please check SPAM and Junk folders for this email and respond in a timely manner to their request. They are experts and can provide guidance on Policies & Procedures(P&P).

Grant recipients awarded less than $150,000  in HRSA, RHC Vax Confidence grant funds – will be asked to self-certify, via email, that you have adequate P & P for the 5 areas (below) of financial control. 

Grant recipients awarded over $150,000 in HRSA, RHC Vax Confidence grant funds – will be asked to to self-certify, via email, you have adequate P& P for the 3 areas Disbursement/Procurement, Timekeeping and Allowability of Costs and and share the P & P related to 2 areas, Cash Management and Accounting Systems.  

Policies and Procedures need to address: 

Grantees with a current single audit* or recently completed FMR will not be contacted for this information. If your organization is in the process or will be conducting a single audit in a few months, it is our understanding you will need to   respond to the request for the FMR per the guidelines above for over $150,000 in RHC Vaccine Confidence grant funds. 

*Recipients awarded over $750,000/fiscal year are required to complete a single audit. 

Resources:

*New* Personnel Activity Tracking (PAR) Tipsheet and Tracking Examples: PARs, or time and effort reporting, are written documentation that supports personnel costs charged to a federal grant. View that document here.

Example Financial Management Policies and Procedures: View here

These examples are intended to be used as a guide only and it must be modified to align with your organization’s operational set-up. When necessary, be sure to specify who is responsible and how the process is implemented and/or monitored. 

Regional RHCVC Small Educational Exchange and Development (SEED) Sessions

Regional RHCVC Small Educational Exchange and Development (SEED) Sessions are held monthly.

The RHCVC SEED Sessions provide an informal opportunity for grantees to:
– Receive RHCVC related announcements/reminders
– Share creative ideas, challenges, and solutions
– Ask questions

Resources:

– RHCVC SEED Session for Grantees (1/19/2023):
Recording link: View here
PowerPoint slides: View here

State Assignments – RHCVC Technical Assistance For assistance, grantees should contact rhcvaxconfidenceinfo@nosorh.org or may also email the individual below assigned to their state. Please include your grant number (G29RHXXXXX in the subject line).

Name	Email	Region	State Assignment
Kelly Braun	kellyb@nosorh.org	A	ME, MA, MD, NH, NY, PA, VT, VA, WV
Kelly Braun	kellyb@nosorh.org	B1	AL, FL, GA, NC, SC
Kelly Braun	kellyb@nosorh.org	B2	KY, MS, TN
Lynette Dickson	ldickson@nosorh.org	C1	IL, IN, IA, KS, MO
Lynette Dickson	ldickson@nosorh.org	C2	MI, MN, NE, OH, WI
Lynette Dickson	ldickson@nosorh.org	D1	TX, LA
Lara Brooks	larab@nosorh.org	D2	AZ, AR, CA, HI, NV, NM, OK
Lara Brooks	larab@nosorh.org	E	CO, ID, MT, ND, OR, SD, WA, WY

Although attendance is optional, we hope grantees will consider joining to share your good work and learn from other grantees on how they are addressing vaccine confidence. We encourage you to attend the SEED in your region; however, if you are unable to please feel free to contact the SORH Champion from another region to join learn how to join another one that works for your schedule. 

The National Organization of State Office of Rural Health (NOSORH) has a cooperative agreement with HRSA to provide technical assistance to the 776+ Rural Health Clinic Vaccine Confidence Grant Program (RHCVC) grantees. 

This technical assistance is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $750,000 with 0 % financed with nongovernmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.

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