Fall 2023 Flex Program Workshop

State Flex Program staff are invited to participate in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Fall 2023 Flex Program Workshop. We are excited to be offering an in-person format for the workshop and look forward to meeting participants in Duluth, Minnesota. This workshop is supported by FORHP and coordinated by the Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC), a program of the National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center). As stated in the Flex Program notice of award (NOA), it is a requirement that staff directly responsible for executing the duties of the Flex award attend the Flex Program Workshop within one year of their start date. The goal of the Flex Program Workshop is to provide new or existing Flex Program staff an orientation to the Flex Program. This workshop will cover multiple topics including value-based health care, population health, critical access hospital (CAH) finance, quality and performance improvement concepts, emergency medical services (EMS), and Flex Program core competencies and best practices. Upon Workshop completion, participants will better understand Flex Program goals and services available to support Flex Program excellence.   The Flex Program Workshop will consist of three in-person days, hosted in Duluth, Minnesota:

• Day 1: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central Time
• Day 2: Wednesday, October 18th, 2023 – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central Time
• Day 3: Thursday, October 19th, 2023 – 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 am Central Time

It is expected that participants will travel into the Duluth area on Monday, October 17^th, and depart in the afternoon/evening on Thursday, October 19th, or on Friday, October 20th. Attendees arriving late or leaving early from the Workshop will miss valuable content. Lodging and travel costs are covered by each state’s Flex Program funding.

In the event that an in-person meeting/travel is no longer safe due to communicable diseases and illnesses and in alignment with The Center’s Business Gathering policy, the event will be moved to fully virtual on the same days. It is expected that registered attendees participate in the virtual event should that occur.

There is no fee to participate in the workshop; however, please see workshop participant priority criteria below. The Center and FORHP seek to honor all participation requests, though space is limited. Priority will be given to:

• Flex Coordinators and Directors in their position for 12 months or less
• Participants willing and able to participate in the full three days of the workshop

The intended audience for this workshop is state Flex staff. Key subcontractors of state Flex Programs will be considered on a case-by-case basis in collaboration with FORHP.

For more information, please contact: Caroline Bell at cbell@ruralcenter.org