Policy AD-202 Grant Processing and Management 2021-07-16

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to create an internal audit of grants that have been received by Westside Family Healthcare, and foster communication between the designated grant manager (DGM) or designee and department leaders working under grant awards, identify who is responsible for mandatory reporting requirements, describe the process of continuous review of grant requirements and deliverables, and ensure all aspects of the reporting matrix are complete and accurate.

Policy

When a new grant has been awarded, the Deputy Chief External Affairs & Communications Officer assigns a designated grant manager (DGM), who manages initial grant implementation and oversees information gathering and reporting, as outlined in the procedures below.  

For all grant-funded programs being implemented at Westside Family Healthcare clinical or administrative facilities, a determination is made as to who will be responsible for data collection and submission of reporting requirements.  

Scope

Key Westside staff may include department directors, managers, and staff that collect and report data.

Definitions

Designated Grant Manager (DGM) – For the purposes of this policy, the DGM is the member of the External Affairs team designated by the Deputy Chief External Affairs & Communications Officer as the primary individual providing oversight for Westside’s meeting the ongoing requirements of a particular grant award. The DGM is usually, but not always, the individual who served as the designated grant writer (DGW), following the procedures in policy AD-201 Grant Writing Process.  

Procedures

Once a grant has been awarded, the Deputy Chief External Affairs & Communications Officer assigns a designated grant manager (DGM) from the Department of External Affairs.

• 1. For some grants, the Deputy Chief may choose to serve as the DGM.
  2. In unique circumstances, a DGM may be designated from outside the department, at the discretion of the Deputy Chief.

Once a grant award has been processed and a program has been implemented, the DGM consults with the Deputy Chief External Affairs to determine key staff needed to attend initial meetings.

Information Gathering

• 1. As needed, the DGM and Deputy Chief External Affairs review all current reports that are submitted to outside agencies.  The purpose of this review is to gain information on:
     1. What is collected;
     2. How much data is collected;
     3. Who is creating report of the collected data;
     4. Who is writing narrative of the collected data;
     5. What other tasks is this person responsible for;
     6. How often data needs to be reported;
     7. Time needed to create reports;
     8. Time needed to submit reports; and
     9. Means by which reports are submitted (electronic/paper)
  2. For all newly awarded grants, the DGM holds meetings with department leaders whose teams have been awarded funding for implementation of the new Westside initiative.  The purpose of the meetings is to review the notice of award and determine:
     1. What hiring and/or training needs to take place;
     2. If any certifications must be obtained by new team members;
     3. What deliverables and reporting requirements are expected and:
        1. How often is reporting required and to whom is it submitted;
        2. Who will be responsible for gathering data;
        3. Who will be responsible for reporting data;
        4. In what format will the data be collected; and
        5. In what format will the report be submitted;
     4. If modifications to scheduling must be made;
     5. What modifications need to be made by the IT department to infrastructure;
     6. If any communication must be made to the public advertising the new program; and
     7. If any changes to patient procedures or workflows must be made and in what time frame.
  3. The findings of all information gathering sessions are documented clearly and comprehensively by the DGM and required actions are assigned to departments and monitored for completion.

Grant-Required Reporting

• 1. A meeting is held by the DGM with department leaders to review information gathering findings and determine if the relevant department will report or continue reporting the grant-required data to outside agencies or if the DGM will take on the task.
  2. If determined that the department will submit / continue to submit the grant-required reports to outside agencies, that department is responsible for developing a tracking mechanism for submissions and maintaining that document and copies of all submitted reports in a grant-specific electronic file accessible to the DGM. This procedure aids in generating program continuity for grant applications and trouble-shooting for any missing program deliverables.
  3. If determined that the DGM will submit grant-required reports to outside agencies, the DGM will schedule regular meetings with the department until comfortable with the reporting requirements and progress of the initiative.  Subsequent meetings will be scheduled dependent on findings and reporting deliverable due dates.  The DGM develops a tracking mechanism for their submissions and maintain that document and copies of all submitted reports in a grant-specific file.
  4. The DGM creates and maintains a SmartSheet to track all reporting requirements for each active grant for which they are responsible and to share with key stakeholders.

Throughout the grant management process, every effort should be made to meet all established deadlines and attend all scheduled meetings.

References

None