The Arkansas Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) is a federal grant program that supports small, rural hospitals in meeting the challenges of healthcare reform and improving patient care. SHIP provides funding to hospitals with 49 or fewer beds—many of which are Critical Access Hospitals—to help them invest in technology, quality improvement, and value-based care initiatives. Through SHIP, hospitals can upgrade electronic health records, enhance data collection and reporting capabilities, improve patient safety practices, and prepare for alternative payment models. By strengthening infrastructure and promoting best practices, the SHIP program helps small rural hospitals remain financially stable and deliver high-quality care to their communities.
To Be Eligible
- Small Rural Hospitals must be a non-Federal, short-term, general acute hospital that:
- resides in a rural area as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395ww (d)
- Has 49 available beds or less, as reported on the hospital’s most recently filed Medicare Cost Report.
- Eligible SHIP hospitals may be for-profit or not-for-profit, including faith-based.
Rural area is defined as either: (1) located outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); (2) located within a rural census tract of an MSA, as determined under the Goldsmith Modification or the Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCAs) or (3) is being treated as if being located in a rural area pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1395(d)(8)(E).
Click here to use the Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer and determine if your hospital is eligible.
Allowable Expenses
Click here to use the Allowable Investments Search Tool to identify allowable investments for SHIP-eligible hospitals.
Apply to Become a SHIP Hospital
To request an application, contact [email protected]
Contact Us
Rural Health & Primary Care
4815 W. Markham St., Slot 76
Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: 501-280-4529
Fax: 501-280-4706
[email protected]
