14 Jul Harney District Hospital awarded $2.4 million grant
Harney District Hospital is the proud recipient of a $2.4 million Catalyst Award grant, which will be used to modernize technology to support Harney County’s healthcare needs.
About the Catalyst Award grant
Oregon was awarded $197.3 million of Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding for the program’s first year, with funding potentially extending through 2030. RHTP is a federal initiative designed to strengthen rural healthcare systems, expand service access, and stabilize critical care.
Administered through Oregon Health Authority (OHA), the program provides grants and resources directly to hospitals, health clinics, and community-based organizations targeting rural and frontier areas. RHTP focuses on initiatives such as workforce training, peer-to-peer virtual consultation, and community-driven impact projects.
OHA’s largest pool of RHTP funding (about $80.1 million) is being distributed through Catalyst Award grants. To access these funds, rural communities throughout the state were encouraged to develop innovative, community-driven projects that address at least one of the following focus areas: co-occurring behavioral health conditions, aging in place, chronic disease, and/or maternal and child health. Applicants were instructed to select a primary outcome for their project from a list of initiatives — including Healthy Communities & Prevention, Workforce Capacity & Resilience, Regional Partnerships, and Technology & Data Modernization.
Harney District Hospital’s project
Harney District Hospital’s (HDH’s) Patient and Nursing Communication and Safety through Technology and Data Modernization project will connect patient-care equipment directly with communication and alerting platforms to improve real-time situational awareness, reduce response delays, strengthen care coordination, and support safer care delivery across inpatient, emergency, and obstetric (OB) settings. Goals for the project include adopting new information technology tools and capabilities, establishing fully connected communication systems, and advancing patient-care technologies.
Here are just a few examples of how HDH’s Catalyst funding will be utilized:
Wi-Fi enabled beds and associated equipment will be installed throughout the hospital’s nursing units. These “smart beds” will use built-in sensors to transmit patient information to caregivers in real time. In addition to continuously monitoring patients’ vital signs (like heart rate and breathing), the sensors will play a vital role in fall prevention by alerting caregivers whenever patients get out of bed. Patient monitoring will be directly integrated throughout the hospital to ensure that critical patient information reaches the right caregivers at the right time. This will improve response reliability and establish a stronger, more robust culture of safety. As part of this process, Catalyst funds will be used to purchase an updated nurse call system that fully integrates with the hospital’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) system and new phone systems (which are also part of the grant).
Catalyst funds will help elevate maternal and child health by modernizing HDH’s OB Department with advanced medical equipment and streamlined clinical processes. The hospital plans to purchase an OBIX fetal-monitoring system, which will empower caregivers to make timely, informed decisions by collecting continuous, real-time data. Seamless communication between the hospital’s OBIX system and EHR will provide a complete picture of the patient’s assessment and keep the entire care team updated. Catalyst funds will also be used to implement the Hugs infant protection and security system to provide a higher level of security for our newborns. HDH will also use Catalyst funds to purchase multiple new Panda Warmers for the OB Department. A Panda Warmer is an advanced device that provides gentle, even heat to help stabilize a newborn’s body temperature, while keeping caregivers cool. This all-in-one workstation also includes an in-bed scale, integrated X-ray tray, full resuscitation setup, and a built-in system that continuously monitors the infant’s vital signs.
Project impact
HDH is a frontier Critical Access Hospital serving the largest county in Oregon and one of the most geographically isolated regions in the United States. Harney County spans more than 10,000 square miles, creating significant barriers to timely healthcare access, specialty services, workforce recruitment, and transportation. HDH serves as a vital healthcare anchor for this remote region, providing essential inpatient, outpatient, emergency, and preventatives services close to home. In addition to supporting primary and specialty care needs, HDH is committed to sustaining and strengthening access to maternity care, recognizing that local prenatal, labor and delivery, postpartum, and newborn services are critical to the health and stability of rural families and communities.
“Our Catalyst project directly addresses locally identified needs to improve patient safety, strengthen emergency response capabilities, reduce fragmentation across care settings, and support frontline healthcare staff,” HDH CEO Bob Gomes said. “By modernizing clinical communication infrastructure and integrating patient-monitoring systems across the continuum of care, HDH will strengthen rural healthcare delivery, improve operational sustainability, and preserve access to safe, high-quality local care for the residents of Harney County.”
Gomes added that, “Only 85 of the 353 organizations who submitted grant applications were awarded Catalyst funding. HDH is honored to be selected for this highly competitive award and would like to thank Gov. Tina Kotek and our congressional delegation for their ongoing advocacy and allocation of funding to improve the health and well-being of our community.”
No Comments