Clifton-Fine Hospital and Canton’s E.J. Noble Hospital unit of Canton-Potsdam Hospital are getting some help from the state to help with their programs of care for fragile, elderly and low-income populations.

Noble Hospital will receive $2 million and Star Lake’s Clifton-Fine Hospital will get $1.225 million under the Vital Access/Safety Net Provider Program (VAP).

The VAP supports projects in facilities that were selected due to their serious financial condition and critical role in providing services to New York State’s fragile, elderly, and low-income population.

In total, 37 organizations will received $45 million in funding over the next three years.

The VAP is a key component in the work of the Medicaid Redesign Team “and our ongoing efforts to transform the State’s healthcare system to better care for New Yorkers and deliver for taxpayers,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced the grants.

The money will be used primarily to improve community care and to achieve defined financial, operational, and quality improvement goals related to integration or reconfiguration of services offered by the facility. Specific examples include:

· expanding access to ambulatory services through additional needed services or added hours of operation

· opening urgent care centers to help reduce use of emergency rooms

· improving quality through reduced adverse events thus also reducing overall costs

· expanding services in rural areas through additional primary and specialty care services

· establishing care coordination between providers and levels of health care service delivery

· providing more effective services that meet the needs of the community.

The grants were awarded from among 150 applications submitted by hospitals in support of multi-year projects.