Exciting News!

It is with great excitement that we, the Board of Directors of the RNO, announce a new direction and new chapter in the history of our great organization.

As you all know, the RNO is a small organization with an amazing membership base but also with limited resources. Until recently, our administrative needs were supported by a single administrator and the work of our volunteers, who we are eternally grateful and thankful for. However, as our organization has grown and our needs have expanded, we have come to recognize the need for additional support. Because of this we are pleased to announce that we have partnered with a new administrative firm.

Beginning on January 1, 2021, the RNO will be managed by Riggs Enterprise Corp., (REC) a small association management firm located in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. The REC team currently manages the American Association for the History of Nursing and works with several other nursing organizations including the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nurses and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. To learn more about the Riggs Team, please click here.

In addition to hiring a new support team, we are also asking all of our members to consider renewing their membership no later than March 31^st, 2021. Due to COVID, the transition process to our new team, and additional unforeseen challenges, the RNO is unable to access the full breadth of our membership list. Therefore, we are relying on our members to help us build our member list back to 2019 by renewing at their earliest convenience. If you recently renewed your membership through Paypal, please contact Renee Hersperger, our administrative team member at Renee@riggsenterprisecorp.com.

If you are interested in renewing your membership via Paypal, you may do so on the RNO website by clicking here. If you are interested in paying by credit card, you may also call the RNO team at 609-519-9689 or by mailing a check to the following address:

RNO Headquarters

P.O. Box 7

Mullica Hill, NJ

08062

Assisting Rural Providers in Understanding COVID-19 Regulatory Flexibilities

Understanding COVID-19 Regulatory Flexibilities for The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) is sharing news that CMS has developed a new Rural Crosswalk resource to help rural providers understand how temporary COVID-19 regulatory flexibilities could help them combat the pandemic. Key goals of the flexibilities include:

• Expanding the healthcare workforce by removing barriers for health professionals

• Ensuring that local health systems and hospitals have the capabilities to handle a potential COVID-19 surge, including access to expansion sites

• Increasing access to telehealth for Medicare providers and beneficiaries to help patients get the care they need at home

• Expanding in-place testing to allow for more testing at home and within communities

• Providing health systems temporary relief from paperwork, reporting, and audit requirements

The resource details how the flexibilities impact Rural Health Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Acute Care Prospective Payment System Hospitals, and Medicare-certified Skilled Nursing Facilities.

Find additional rural health resources on the CMS OMH website.

Looking for additional information on COVID-19? Visit this CMS OMH webpage for COVID-19 Federal resources focusing on vulnerable populations: go.cms.gov/omhcovid19 and From Coverage to Care (C2C) COVID-19 resources: go.cms.gov/c2ccovid19.