Do transition grants help rural hospitals?

Congress introduced the Rural Health Care Transition (RHCT) Grant Program in 1989 to assist financially troubled, small rural hospitals. This article discusses grant effects on the second cohort of hospitals to complete their 3-year grants. Although three-quarters of the grantees implemented all or most of their goals, 11 percent could not implement a viable project. Grantees added or upgraded 523 services with the help of their grants, especially outpatient and social services, most of them financially self-supporting. Except among the largest hospitals, there was no evidence that the grants improved grantee finances. Management appeared unaffected by the grants.