Rural Health Pathways
General Information & Overview
The Rural Health Care Pathways Expansion Grant (RHCPE) is designed to develop strong, defined health care careerpathway programs to enhance the health care workforce in Tennessee’s ruralcommunities. Training and recruiting rural students and providingemployment opportunities are evidence-based strategies for growing this neededworkforce in rural areas. Through data-driven and collaborative work, Tennesseecan ensure that postsecondary institutions are enhancing opportunities to enterand transition into health care, behavioral health, and dental healthprofessions.
The RHCPE program facilitates the creation or expansion ofhealth care pathways in rural Tennessee through a $50 million competitive grantprocess. These funds are available to local collaboratives through acompetitive Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the Tennessee HigherEducation Commission (THEC).
Grants of up to $2 million will be available to local orregional collaboratives for periods of up to forty-eight (48) months tofacilitate the creation of health care pathways or the expansion of existingrural health care pathways in high-demand occupations. Strategies shouldinclude increasing secondary student’s exposure to health care careers,increasing transition opportunities into health science education and healthcare professions, and improving professional advancement programs. Proposals must identify and address local and/or regional gaps through one, ora combination, of the following four strategies:
- Develop career pathway programs with documented articulation agreements. Additional information can be found in Appendix D.
a. Establish health care pathways for Tennesseans in rural areas which include dual enrollment opportunities for high school students and/or flexible options for adult learners.
b. Establish educational pathways which allow Tennesseans to earn health care credentials and practice in rural areas. Examples of pathways could include but are not limited to, Paramedic to Registered Nurse (RN) programs; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to RN Programs; Associate of Nursing to Bachelor of Nursing programs; and accelerated Bachelor of Science to Doctor of Medicine programs, etc. - Develop and implement collaborative, meaningful, and structured work-based learning (WBL) experiences to include increasing awareness of health care fields at the secondary level. For the purpose of this RFP, WBL is defined as a proactive approach to bridging the gap between secondary and postsecondary education and high-demand, high-skill careers in Tennessee. Students and companies are partnered to reinforce academic, technical, and employability skills through work experience. WBL activities could begin as early as elementary school and continue through postsecondary. The purpose of a continuum of WBL experiences is to develop a pathway that provides students with concrete, coherent, relevant actions, and opportunities. WBL experiences should also culminate in credit-bearing capstones such as internships, co-ops, pre-apprenticeships, registered apprenticeships, and/or clinical experiences.
- Develop outreach programs targeted towards recruiting Tennesseans into rural health care jobs.
- Provide student stipends for education-related costs (examples include: examination fees, licensure fees, supplies, and books) and completion grants for students enrolled in eligible health care programs serving in rural areas. THEC has identified four areas of need: food, housing, childcare, and transportation. If completion grants are part of a proposal, the proposal should detail the application, award, payment, and monitoring processes. Additional information can be found in Appendix E.
What Constitutes a Collaborative?
Grant applicants must demonstrate the viability of a local/regional collaborative that includes the following mandatory partners:
- Any public, private, or non-profit postsecondary institution may participate as a partner, but one institution must be identified to serve as the lead and the fiscal agent. To qualify, the institution must either be a public postsecondary institution, or a Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) member institution. The lead/fiscal Institution will execute a grant contract with THEC and be responsible for coordinating all grant activities, partner participation and collaboration, and managing contract monitoring, audit, and reporting.
- Two or more health care employers located in rural communities; these employers should be seeking to employ credentialed graduates from the proposed program, and serve as clinical sites, and/or provide WBL opportunities.
- At least one K-12, local administrator representing heath care programs of study, including secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs of study and work-based learning.
Eligible Programs
In order for an academic program or training program to be eligible:
- The instruction must be classified in the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code 51: Health Professions and Related Programs.
- The instruction and training will lead to an in-demand occupation that is classified as a Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) codes 29: Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations or 31: Healthcare Support Occupations.
- The instruction, training, or clinical placement must take place in a Tennessee county that is not listed below. For the purpose of this RFP, rural counties are defined as those having less than 50 percent of their population living within a 2020 Census Urbanized Area with a population of more than 50,000.
Submission Guidelines & Timeline
- Friday, December 20, 2024 - Notice of Intent to Submit due no later than 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) via Formstack.
- Friday, January 31, 2025 - Final proposals must be received electronically by 12:00 p.m (Central Time) via Formstack
Upcoming Event
Rural Health Care Pathways Expansion Grant RFP Webinar
December 3, 2024 10:00 a.m.