SHIP Program Description
The Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) Grant is an annual grant program that provides funding to small rural hospitals to help them support the following eligible activities:

• Purchase computer software and hardware (such as applications that focus on quality improvement, performance improvement, and patient safety);
• Educate and train hospital staff on computer information systems (such as using technology to improve patient outcomes); and
• Offset costs related to the implementation of prospective payment systems (PPS) (such as updating chargemasters or providing training in billing and coding).
  

SHIP Hospital Eligibility
Hospitals apply to the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health (OORH) to receive a SHIP grant, and the OORH applies to the Office of Rural Health Policy on behalf of all of the state's eligible hospitals. To be eligible for a SHIP grant, a hospital must meet the following criteria:

• Have 49 available beds or less, as reported on line 12 of the hospital’s most recently filed Medicare Cost Report;
• Be located outside a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or located in a rural census tract of a MSA as determined under the Goldsmith Modification or the Rural Urban Commuting Areas; and
• Be a non-federal, short-term, general acute care facility.

Application and Progress Report
Participating hospitals are also required to submit an annual application and progress report to receive SHIP grant funding. For 2010, sixty Oklahoma hospitals have qualified to receive $546,037 in SHIP grant funds ($9,100.62 per hospital). For a map of participating hospitals, click here (opens in new window).

For further information regarding this grant, please contact:

Jeff Hackler
(918) 584-4611
jeff.hackler@okstate.edu