The New York State Department of Health (DOH) has released the Q&A for the second round of the Statewide Healthcare Facility Transformation Program (SHCFTP II), which contains 333 questions and answers related to this Request for Proposals (RFP) with $204 million in available funding. Some responses of note include:
- Application Evaluation
- DOH reiterates that its evaluation of an application “is largely dependent on the overall approach taken by the applicant to improve their long-term financial sustainability and protect and strengthen continued access to essential health care services in the community.”
- Regarding the evaluation criterion of whether a project has access to alternative funds or matching funds, preference will be given to applications who do not have access to alternative funding other than grants.
- Capital and Non-Capital Projects
- Capital and non-capital projects must be submitted separately, as two different applications, and given a priority rank by the applicant. If the two projects are interdependent, this should be stated under Program Specific Question #3 (Project Description) for both submissions.
- Non-capital debt restructuring costs must pertain to long-term liabilities, defined as debt with a duration of more than one year. These could include items such as mortgage loans, capital leases, workers’ compensation liabilities, and pension liabilities. However, DOH does not view pensions as a priority under this RFP.
- Start-up Operational Funding
- Start-up operating expenses must be incremental costs of Eligible Projects, and may be covered only until “program operating revenue is reasonably anticipated to support operations,” a length of time that will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Such costs may include staff salaries during the start-up period.
- Start-up costs must be directly related to the project. For example, costs that would be paid whether or not the project occurs, such as salaries for existing executive staff, are not eligible.
- Health Care Transformation Activities
- As in similar RFPs in the past, DOH is taking a broad view of the “significant restructuring activities” that a participant must be engaged in to be eligible. Some examples of eligible activities include rightsizing services across a region or at a specific location or converting services to better align service delivery in a region with DSRIP goals.
- Applicant Eligibility
- As in SHCFTP Round 1, Article 16 clinics are eligible to apply for this grant. Other developmental disabilities providers, including operators of group homes, are not eligible.
- Primary care providers must be certified under title eight of the education law, or a lawful combination of such providers, such as an independent practice association (IPA).
- Article 31 hospitals that are not also licensed as an Article 28 hospital are not eligible.
- Funds Start Date
- DOH reiterates that only expenses incurred after the start date of the contract, estimated to be July 6th, will be eligible for reimbursement. Any expenses incurred before July 6th are assumed at risk by the contractor.
The full Q&A document is attached.