Primary Care

Date

May 16, 2023

Priority Area

Primary Care

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Primary Care: Expanding Access and Advancing Racial Health Equity

High-quality primary care provides ongoing, relationship-based care that meets the health needs and preferences of individuals, families, and communities, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Primary care is a rare “win-win” in health care that improves individual and community health, enhances health equity, and saves money. Despite the return on investment, we underinvest in primary care, and too many New Yorkers—especially New Yorkers of color—have difficulty getting care when and where they need it.

NYHealth’s inaugural Primary Care Request for Proposal (RFP) aims to support projects in two of our core program strategies to: (1) expand access to primary care, and (2) advance racial health equity through primary care. Through this RFP, we expect to fund projects across New York State that have regional or statewide impact, disseminate best practices, test replicable models, and contribute to policy and systems change. To be competitive, a project limited to a specific health system or facility must clearly articulate how this project will lay the groundwork for efforts to be scaled across health systems, regions, or the State.

The detailed Primary Care: Expanding Access and Advancing Racial Health Equity RFP is available here.


How to Apply

Step 1: All applicants are required to complete a letter of inquiry form (LOI). The deadline for LOI submission is June 13, 2023, at 1:00 p.m.

Complete and submit an LOI here.

For detailed guidelines, please review the LOI submission instructions.

Step 2: After reviewing all LOIs, NYHealth staff members will invite selected applicants to submit a full proposal. Applicants will be notified whether they are invited to submit a full proposal by the end of July 2023, and selected applicants will be e-mailed specific submission instructions. The deadline for submitting the full proposal is August 24, 2023, at 1:00 p.m.

Following review by a panel of external experts and Foundation staff, we expect to notify applicants of final grant decisions by the end of November 2023.


For More Information

For more information on this funding opportunity and the application process, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below.

Additional programmatic questions about this funding opportunity should be e-mailed to PCRFP@nyhealthfoundation.org. Because of the large number of inquiries expected, we will be answering questions via e-mail. We encourage you to be specific in your questions so we can offer helpful feedback. If we determine questions cannot be answered sufficiently via e-mail, we will reach out to arrange time for a brief phone conversation.

Technical questions regarding the online application system should be e-mailed to the NYHealth Grants Management Department at gm@nyhealthfoundation.org.

FAQs: Project and Eligibility Guidelines

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Nonprofits, government agencies, for-profit organizations, and academic organizations are eligible to apply.

Examples of organizations include, but are not limited to:

  • health care systems and providers;
  • independent practice associations;
  • professional member organizations;
  • community-based organizations;
  • patient advocacy organizations;
  • policy organizations; and
  • academic or research organizations.

Organizations are required to be based in New York State. Applicants may partner or subcontract with non-New York-based organizations if they offer resources and expertise beneficial to the project.

Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Yes.

Yes. However, if an organization submits multiple Letter of Inquiry forms (LOIs) for consideration, only one project would be eligible to be invited to submit a full proposal. We encourage applicants to identify the project that is highest priority for your organization and most aligned with the goals of the RFP.

  • Lobbying
  • Capital expenses (e.g., construction/renovation, furniture, vehicles, health care equipment).
    • Materials and supplies (e.g., tablets for patients) may be eligible under some circumstances if they are directly related to project activities, but costs cannot account for a major portion of the total budget.
  • General operations or projects that involve funding of ongoing services undertaken by an organization.

Funding requests that include the hiring of additional clinicians and staff must support the implementation of a specific, time-bound project and cannot be solely for general care delivery.

Given our modest grantmaking, NYHealth is not able to support training, recruitment, or retention of clinicians into primary care practices.

Please note that this RFP does not include NYHealth’s third Primary Care strategy focused on strengthening the non-clinical workforce. Please refer to our website for more information about these workforce strategies, future funding opportunities, and how to contact NYHealth staff to discuss your needs and project ideas.

NYHealth will not support medical or biomedical research. Data analysis will be considered in cases where an analytical topic is timely, actionable, focused on a New York-specific issue, and supportive of policy or systems change.

To be competitive, a project limited to a specific health system or facility must clearly articulate how this project will lay the groundwork for efforts to be scaled across health systems, regions, or the State. The most successful applications will take a policy and systems approach to achieve broad impact.

A project that integrates specialty care (e.g., behavioral health, dental health, reproductive health) or referral to social services with primary care is eligible for funding. To be competitive, an applicant that proposes to conduct these activities in a specific health system or facility will need to clearly articulate how this project will lay the groundwork for efforts to be scaled across health systems, regions, or the State.

For instance, a project might pilot a new model of primary care/specialty care integration to inform evolving New York State regulations. In another example, a project might test a technical assistance approach for providers to screen and refer for health-related social needs that can be scaled across health systems.

NYHealth recognizes that many applicants are anticipating how the expected Section 1115 waiver will impact their work and result in new opportunities. Because the waiver has not been finalized at the time of the RFP release, projects that are entirely contingent on the waiver’s approval (e.g., Social Determinants of Health Networks) would not be competitive.

However, projects that relate to or intersect with the new models proposed in the 1115 waiver (e.g., screening and referral for health-related social needs, value-based care) will be considered. To be competitive, a project limited to a specific health system or facility must clearly articulate how this project will lay the groundwork for efforts to be scaled across health systems, regions, or the State. Because of our modest grant funds, we are not able to support capacity-building efforts or infrastructure-building (e.g., technology integration for referrals) for specific health systems.

Yes, as long as these projects can be tied to broader objectives of this RFP to expand access to primary care and/or advance racial health equity through primary care. Furthermore, projects in a specific health system or facility will need to clearly articulate how this project will lay the groundwork for efforts to be scaled across health systems, regions, or the State to be competitive.

Very important. Many proposals are turned down because no apparent means exist to continue the project after NYHealth grant funding ends. It is critical to explain the business plan for keeping the project going after the grant period concludes, beyond stating that you would seek additional grants from other funders. This is particularly important if you propose to hire staff to conduct this project. Please refer to this NYHealth-supported sustainability toolkit for helpful resources and tools.

Yes. Please e-mail PCRFP@nyhealthfoundation.org with any programmatic questions. Because of the large number of inquiries expected, we will be answering questions via e-mail. We encourage you to be specific in your questions so we can offer helpful feedback. If we determine questions cannot be answered sufficiently via e-mail, we will reach out to arrange time for a brief phone conversation.

Because of the large number of inquiries typically received, questions asked very close to the deadline may not be answered in time.

FAQs: Developing and Submitting an Application

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Applicants may apply for a grant of up to $250,000. Priority for larger grants will be given to projects that are statewide or regional in scope, have system-wide implications, and build collaboration among organizations.

Funds requested must be commensurate with the work proposed. Appropriateness of the grant budget in relation to the proposed scope of work, timeline, and geography will be an important factor in selecting the most competitive proposals.

Projects cannot exceed 24 months in duration. Some competitive projects can be completed more quickly and result in impact sooner than others. Larger-scale projects (e.g., policy change) may take longer to complete.

Letters of support cannot be included with the LOI. Letters of support may be submitted only if you have been invited to submit a full proposal and are optional.

No. All information must be submitted in the LOI fields.

You are not required to include references in the LOI or your full proposal; however, applicants will be expected to provide references if asked by Foundation staff. If you would like to include references, please include them in the body of the LOI or proposal.

FAQs: Application Review Process

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The Primary Care LOI is due June 13, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. Applicants will be notified if they are invited to submit a full proposal by the end of July 2023, and selected applicants will be e-mailed specific submission instructions. For invited applicants, the full proposal will be due August 24, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.

LOIs will not be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early submission does not provide an advantage. However, we do encourage reaching out to Foundation staff at PCRFP@nyhealthfoundation.org early in the process, should you have programmatic questions.

LOIs are all reviewed internally by Foundation staff, who then invite selected applicants to submit a full proposal for review.

Full grant applications are assessed by a panel comprising reviewers from across the State who possess a diverse set of expertise. External reviewers evaluate proposals using the criteria specified in the RFP.

Only applicants invited to submit a full proposal will receive the full proposal application instructions via e-mail.