Proactive, innovative approaches to improving care for rural patients are imperative in the dynamic, ever-changing healthcare landscape. Our Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreement program solicits and supports programs and strategies that address unmet needs to improve rural health.
Program Overview
The South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare supports and manages the competitive Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreement Program. The program identifies and supports innovative programs or strategies that address unmet needs or support efforts to improve rural health. Awarded projects focus on supporting health in rural communities through improving access to healthcare services; enhancing the health professions workforce; implementing services/programs that promote improved health outcomes for rural patients and residents; or integrating health care and community-based programs.
Rural South Carolinians are disproportionately affected by poorer health outcomes than residents in urban areas. In response, the Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreement program provides resources and support to local organizations throughout South Carolina to tackle rural health problems at the community-level. And more broadly, the program is dedicated to investing in innovative solutions and best practices that can be spread and adopted by other rural communities and inform public policy.
Since 2018, the Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreements program has reviewed over 50 applications and 40 full proposals from community leaders, researchers, and health providers throughout the state. Within three years, this program has supported 20 innovative projects and invested over $2.4 Million to improving South Carolina's rural health.
The Rural Innovations program currently has 12 active projects that serve 23 counties throughout the state
Program Application Information
The Rural Innovations Application is a two-step process. The first step is a Letter of Intent (LOI) to ensure eligibility and that objectives and activities would align with CRPH’s mission and guidelines. Selected applicants will be advanced to step two and invited to submit a full proposal.
Submit Letter of Intent
FAQ
Download Full Request For Applications (PDF)
Important Dates
RFA Released: January 29, 2025
LOI Due: March 3, 2025 at 11:59 pm
Full Application Due: April 25, 2025 at 11:59pm
Project Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Any public institution of higher education in South Carolina
- South Carolina Rural Health Networks
- SC AccessHealth programs
- Public or not-for-profit (501(c)3) organizations with an emphasis on health, rural health, or community services
- State government agencies
- Category I: Planning Projects. These projects would be smaller in scope and would support planning efforts and begin the process of implementing an innovation. Projects under category I would be limited to 12-months and up to $50,000 in total cost (Direct Costs only).
- Category II: Intermediate projects. These projects would fall between the planning and implementation categories. Such projects have matured past the planning stage but are not quite ready for full implementation. These could include pilot programs. Projects under category II would be limited to 12-month and up to $100,000 in total cost (Direct Costs only). Based on project performance, these projects can be fast-tracked into an implementation award the subsequent year.
- Category III: Implementation Projects. These projects could implement a program that is well designed but not yet realized. Projects under category II would be limited to 24-months and up to $200,000 in total cost (Direct Costs only).
What we fund: We aim to fund programs that utilize innovative solutions or best practices to improve health access and/or health outcomes for rural communities, patients, or populations. We fund direct costs only.
We do not fund:
- Projects centered on one-touch events (health fairs, conferences, etc.)
- Programs or activities that target any non-rural populations
- Capital funds or funds being raised for new buildings or building improvements or equipment such as medical
- Salaries for personnel not directly involved with the project
Past Award Recipients
2024 Awards
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Rural Empowerment and Access to Continuous Health Monitoring | REACH SC | This project aims to address the burden of diabetes in the Lakelands Region through an innovative, remote patient monitoring (RPM) and care coordination program. The use of RPM to bridge the gap in access to healthcare for rural and underserved patients with chronic diseases like diabetes can improve adherence to treatment plans and management of chronic conditions, which can result in reduced complications from chronic diseases. The REACH SC program is expected to improve patients’ health outcomes, modernize healthcare delivery, and generate best practices for improving the health of rural communities. |
| Maternity Management Telehealth Pilot Program for Union County | Union Medical Center | In this initial pilot through Union Medical Center’s (UMC) Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology, prenatal patients will be offered a hybrid prenatal care model consisting of in-person and virtual video visits, and assistance giving birth at Spartanburg Medical Center. Patients will be given instruction on at-home monitoring equipment to help deliver high-quality virtual consultations and readings. A community doula will assist in the virtual visits and will conduct home visits as needed, including social determinants of health screening and access to referrals for needs based on the assessment. |
| Creating, Implementing and Evaluating the Voices/Voces Toolkit |
Institute for Families in Society | Address implicit bias and strengthen person-centered respectful maternity care (RMC) among obstetric care clinical and community providers (CCPs) primarily serving rural-based populations in South Carolina. |
The South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare (CRPH) announces awards to six projects for the 2023 Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreement Program. The Center supports and manages the competitive program, which identifies and supports projects that address unmet needs or efforts to improve health in rural communities. More broadly, the program is dedicated to investing in innovative solutions and best practices that can be spread and adopted by other rural communities and inform public policy. Awarded projects focus on improving access to healthcare services; enhancing the health professions workforce; implementing services/programs that promote improved health outcomes for rural patients and residents; or integrating health care and community-based programs.
2023 Planning
|
Project |
PI |
Description |
|
Expanding Access to Doulas to Improve Birth Outcomes for Rural Families |
Institute for Child Success |
This project will lead a study and develop resources to identify opportunities for expanding the availability of community-based doulas (non-medical birth support practitioners), in rural areas of South Carolina, to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies with limited access to prenatal care. |
|
Postgraduate Residency Program in Community-based Pharmacy |
HopeHealth, Inc. |
This project will explore options and strategies for expanding clinical pharmacy training and the capacity to support a clinical residency in pharmacy within a federally qualified health center. Training clinical pharmacists in a rural health center will expand access to clinical pharmacy services to rural communities and patients. |
|
The Use of Telemental Health Services Among Foster Children in Rural South Carolina: A Mixed-Methods Study |
University of South Carolina - College of Social Work |
This project will explore barriers and facilitators in using telemental health from the perspectives of foster children, foster parents, and mental health providers in rural South Carolina. |
2023 Intermediate
|
Project |
PI |
Description |
|
Piloting the Expansion of a Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program in Rural South Carolina |
Medical University of South Carolina - Department of Surgery |
This project will pilot an expansion of Medical University of South Carolina Turning the Tide Violence Intervention Program, a trauma-informed program to support youth and young adults at high risk of or experiencing violent injury in their communities, to include patients from Orangeburg and Hampton Counties and to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a remote Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program in rural areas. |
|
SC Witness Project Increasing Mental Health Awareness |
SC Witness Project |
This project will expand the South Carolina Witness Project, a national evidence-based intervention to provide breast and cervical cancer education and outreach in faith-and community-based settings, by adding mental health education, awareness, and referral components in Chester, Lee, Hampton, and Union Counties. |
2023 Implementation
|
Project |
PI |
Description |
|
Expansion of eVisits to Ensure Statewide Access to Genetics Care for BabyNet-eligible Patients |
Greenwood Genetic Center |
This project will expand statewide access to genetics care for BabyNet-eligible patients and expand telehealth options to improve access to genetics care. The project will focus on 0-3-year-old children eligible for BabyNet services due to developmental delay or a condition likely to lead to developmental delay. |
The South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare (CRPH) announces awards to five projects for the 2022 Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreement Program. The Center supports and manages the competitive program, which identifies and supports projects that address unmet needs or efforts to improve health in rural communities. More broadly, the program is dedicated to investing in innovative solutions and best practices that can be spread and adopted by other rural communities and inform public policy. Awarded projects focus on improving access to healthcare services; enhancing the health professions workforce; implementing services/programs that promote improved health outcomes for rural patients and residents; or integrating health care and community-based programs.
2022 Intermediate
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A data-driven approach to identify and target high-risk rural communities via mobile health clinics | Lior Rennert and Alain Litwin -Clemson University and Prisma Health | This project will develop a framework to identify and prioritize communities at greatest risk of opioid use disorder (OUD), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human deficiency virus (HIV). Once the model is developed, it will be piloted public health surveillance and predictive modeling with key community stakeholders to inform mobile health clinic engagement and intervention selection/implementation in underserved communities in real time. |
| CNA to BSN Pathway to Enhance the Healthcare Workforce in Rural South Carolina | Courtney Catledge - University of South Carolina Lancaster | This pilot project introduces the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification within the existing Associate in Science degree and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) pathway. This certification will enable students to support local community healthcare facilities while also having the option to continue a career pathway to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing on the USC Lancaster campus. |
| Expanding AccessHealth Services to Expectant Mothers in Rural Areas | Lorene Godbold - McLeod Health | This program expands the capability of McLeod Health’s AccessHealth program, allowing it to begin serving expectant mothers in the McLeod Health Cheraw and McLeod Health Clarendon service areas. This initiative is based out of the McLeod Family Medicine Rural Residency programs to serve Chesterfield, Marlboro, Clarendon, and Williamsburg counties. |
2022 Implementation
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot of a Community Pharmacy-Provided Maternal Health Services Program | Patti Fabel- USC College of Pharmacy-Community Pharmacy Maternal Health Program | This pilot project will develop and implement a maternal health training program and toolkit to increase pharmacists, student pharmacists, and technicians’ capacity to improve maternal health outcomes in rural communities across South Carolina. |
| SC Clinical Pharmacist Sustainability Project | Elizabeth Mann -Fairfield Medical Associates | This pilot seeks to onboard a pharmacist at Fairfield Medical Associates (FMA), a designated rural health clinic, to replicate the patient-centered outcomes and financial sustainability of the evidence-based clinical pharmacist model implemented by a small rural health clinic in Bamberg, SC. |
The South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare (CRPH) announces awards to five projects for the 2021 Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreement Program. The Center supports and manages the competitive program, which identifies and supports projects that address unmet needs or efforts to improve health in rural communities. More broadly, the program is dedicated to investing in innovative solutions and best practices that can be spread and adopted by other rural communities and inform public policy. Awarded projects focus on improving access to healthcare services; enhancing the health professions workforce; implementing services/programs that promote improved health outcomes for rural patients and residents; or integrating health care and community-based programs.
2021 Planning
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AccessHealth SC Rural Expansion | Cyndi New - South Carolina Hospital Association | Define alignment opportunities for access to care, prevention, and chronic care through data and market analysis, with the development of a Business Plan to serve as a guide for increasing or spreading sustainable AHSC network models across SC best suited for a particular community, county, or region. |
| Communities Accessing Resources and Education for Success( CARES) | Doug Taylor - Fact Forward | CARES will equip Darlington County First Steps’ Community Health Manager to use technology-based, proven resources to identify needs and increase access to sexual and reproductive health care services for adolescents ages 15-24 |
| Mobile Services Clinic (MSC) for Individuals with Disabilities | Sarah Pope - SOS Care Inc. | In order to address the needs of individuals with disabilities in the rural Waccamaw, the project team will develop a plan that specifies the features of a Mobile Clinic, and its priority service offerings, through study, collaboration and pilot programming |
2021 Implementation
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A Novel approach for rural interdisciplinary care coordination of uninsured South Carolinians with opioid use disorder and/or co-occurring Hepatitis-C Virus | Caitlin Kickham - Clemson University | Increase access to care for rural and uninsured populations with OUD and/or HCV in SC Upstate and Midlands through new partnerships, recruiting patients, and strengthening community partner referral linkages to improve care coordination. |
| Infant Mental Health Rural Workforce Training & Support Initiative | Kerrie Schnake - South Carolina Infant Mental Health Association | Expand the Safe Babies Court model into Orangeburg and Bamberg counties and implement Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health to support children and families with targeted and timely services to ensure adults feel valued as individuals while they learn how to support the healthy development of their children. |
The Rural Innovations Cooperative Agreement program has served as a launchpad for innovative projects in rural areas for three years. This year the Center awarded six novel projects geared toward transforming health outcomes in rural communities.
2020 Planning
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Improving Access to Immunizations in Undeserved Rural South Carolina Communities |
Drs. Tessa Hasting and Bryan Love - UofSC College of Pharmacy | Aims to increase trained students to improve competency and expand the role of clinical pharmacists for rural communities as well as increase the amount of pharmacists in rural areas in order to decrease immunization deserts in South Carolina. |
| Community Health Worker Integration in Rural Health Clinics | Julie Smithwick - Center for Community Health Alignment | Exploring a sustainable and replicable Primary Care CHW Model by engaging MCOs and FQHCs |
2020 Intermediate
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AnMed Neighborhood-based Community Health Workers | Michael Cunningham - AnMed Health Foundation | Hiring community health workers to assist patients in the community setting in rural Anderson South Carolina. |
| Family Engagement in School Mental Health Services | Dr. Elizabeth Crouch - University of SC Rural Health Research Center | Evaluates the effectiveness and feasibility of the implementation of family engagement strategies to complement school mental health services in eight rural SC elementary schools. |
| Wellness for Rural Reentry: Rural Provider Toolkit & Self-Management for Women | Dana DeHart - UofSC College of Social Work | Assess needs and conduct analyses to create draft recommendations for practice and policy with a focus on rural prisoners reentering the population. |
2020 Implementation
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy Advancement In Rural Experiential Development to Expand, Collaboration, Entrepreneurship and Leadership in Rural Communities (PAIRED to ExCEL in Rural Communities) |
Whitney Maxwell PharmD, MBA, BCPS - UofSC College of Pharmacy |
Provides interactive didactic and experiential opportunities across the third and fourth year of the pharmacy curriculum as well as equips pharmacy students to become healthcare providers to ensure better health outcomes in rural communities. |
| Community Health Workers in two Rural Practices | Karen Nichols - Upper Midlands Rural Health Network | Community Health Worker will assist patients at two clinics in Chester SC to integrate health care and community programs in order to improve health, access, and delivery . |
2019 Planning
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Developing a Plan for a Community Health Worker in a Rural Setting | Karen Nichols - Upper Midlands Rural Health Network | Develop a comprehensive plan to implement Community Health Worker program and integrating the model into practice and health delivery teams. |
| Increasing HIV Screening and Linkage to Care (for HIV PrEP or HIV treatment) | Kamla Sanasi-Bhola, MD - UofSC School of Medicine Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases | Partner with an emergency department and community providers to build their capacity to screen for HIV and provider linkage to care for HIV treatment or HIV prevention |
2019 Intermediate
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Health Education and Active Living (HEAL) | Dawn Pender SC Center for Fathers and Families | Strengthens the Man 2 Man fatherhood initiative health component and to health outcomes and lifestyle choices of low-income noncustodial fathers and their children by providing health services and education in Marlboro and Darlington counties. |
| Wellness for Rural Reentry: Rural Provider Toolkit & Self-Management for Women | Dana DeHart, PhD - UofSC College of Social Work | Assess needs and conduct analyses to create draft recommendations for practice and policy with a focus on rural prisoners reentering the population. |
| Healthy Tri-County Diabetes Prevention Program Expansion Project (DPPEP) | Trident United Way | Increases education, raises awareness, and reduces rates of prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes as well as supports the expansion of The National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester Counties. |
2019 Implementation
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence Based Cancer Screenings in Rural Health Communities | Jan M. Eberth, PhD -University of SC Rural Health Research Center | Adapts and implements “whole office” training and related interventions to enhance uptake of evidence-based cancer screening practices in rural health communities in South Carolina based off an environmental scan related to colorectal and cervical cancer screenings in rural health communities. |
| Oconee Collaborative Care Behavioral Health Model | Aaron Zeller MD -Center for Family Medicine-Oconee | Increases access to behavioral health care in a rural community through implementation of a behavioral health collaborative care model in a new family medicine residency teaching clinic in Oconee County, South Carolina. |
2018 Planning
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| HIV PrEP Implementation Toolkit | Kamla Sanasi-Bhola, MD and Sharon Weissman, MD - UofSC School of Medicine Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases | Offer support and resources to rural primary care providers of patients with high incidence of HIV to initiate a PrEP clinic. |
| Medically Supervised Weight Management Program | Charles McElmurray, MD and Robert Valois, MD - John A. Martin Primary Healthcare Center | Develop and administer a medically supervised weight-loss program. |
| Working for a Healthier Chesterfield | Margaret Plettinger Mitchell - Chesterfield County Coordinating Council | Support local employers in implementing evidence-based strategies to improve health and wellness in the workplace. Collective learning about identifying and meeting health needs Chesterfield County. |
2018 Implementation
| Project | PI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Improving South Carolina Rural Health Workforce Recruitment and Retention | Terri Browne, PhD, MSW - UofSC College of Social Work | Provide inter-professional training to increase behavioral practice in rural settings. |
| Pharmacy Advancement in Rural Experiential Development with the Palmetto Experiential Education Partnership | Whitney Maxwell - UofSC Carolina College of Pharmacy | Increase pharmacy student training opportunities in rural areas through site and preceptor development. |
| Rural Primary Care Resident Procedural Training Initiative | Gerard Jebaily, MD - McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program | Leverage medical technology and simulation training to improve rural primary care procedure training and stimulate medical student interest in rural practice. |
