The South Dakota Critical Access Hospital Program (SoDaCAHP) is an effort to help small rural hospitals adjust to the rapidly changing healthcare environment. The centerpiece of the program is the Critical Access Hospital (CAH). A CAH is a facility that has met certain eligibility standards under Medicare including limitation of bed size and inpatient length of stay. In exchange, the facility receives cost-based reimbursement.
The Office of Rural Health has developed a SoDaCAHP State Rural Health Plan to provide information on CAH eligibility criteria, the steps for CAH designation and certification, and the goals of the SoDaCAHP program. To request a copy send an email with your name and address to DOH.INFO.
General Assistance and Information
In addition to recruitment of health professionals and the Critical Access Hospital Program, the Office provides services of a general nature to help improve access to health care, including:
- Assistance with shortage designations. Unsure as to whether your facility or community qualifies for a program? We can help.
- Obtaining grants to develop services. Based on what you want to do, we can provide information on possible sources of funding, provide guidance on grant writing, or even review your draft grant application, prior to submittal, if an impartial viewpoint is desired. If you plan to apply for a grant from the HRSA Office of Rural Health Policy, you will need to be located in a rural area. This map shows the current eligible areas in South Dakota.
- Access to demographic, health status, or facility information. If you desire information for your community, service area, county, or region, we can help access needed information.
- Other needed information. Make an inquiry and we’ll try to help!