Ahmed Abdelmoity, MD, MBA, MS, FAAP, FAES, and Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon, MD, PhD, FAAP, Neurology, received a $6,096,062 grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for their project to improve pediatric chronic disease outcomes and strengthen rural healthcare systems in Kansas. The grant is the largest amount given to an organization out of the 2026 Regional Partnership Grant Program (RPGP) awardees.
Children in rural Kansas who have chronic health conditions often struggle to get the care they need. Long travel distances, a shortage of providers, limited access to specialists, and financial challenges can all make it harder to get diagnosed quickly, see the right providers, and manage conditions over time. As a result, many of these children experience delays in care, preventable complications, and unnecessary trips to the emergency room or hospital. Conditions like asthma, epilepsy, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and type 1 diabetes (T1D) require ongoing, well-coordinated care that involves the whole family—but most rural children with these conditions aren’t currently receiving specialty care.
Children’s Mercy is the only multi-specialty pediatric provider in Kansas, with the only Level 4 Pediatric Epilepsy Center, one of the largest full-service Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes programs in the country and the first pediatric program to be accredited by the American Diabetes Association and accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
With this funding, Children’s Mercy will use existing and new partnerships in Kansas with The Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Pittsburg and Coffeyville, the University of Kansas Medical Center location in Great Bend, and Logan County Health Services. We plan to expand the existing, proven care coordination and data-enabled care ecosystem to rural pediatric populations across Kansas to create a Rural Pediatric Chronic Care Network (RPCCN).
This project takes a proactive, data-driven approach to care coordination. It helps identify children who may be at risk earlier, reaches out to families before issues get worse, and connects rural primary care providers with pediatric specialists. It does this by using shared data, built-in Epic workflows, and telemedicine to make it easier for everyone to work together and keep kids on track.
“This approach shifts care upstream, away from crisis driven encounters and toward prevention, continuity, and equitable access,” explains Dr. Abdlemoity and Dr. Le Pichon.
The project is built on three core principles:
- Identify risk earlier rather than waiting for emergencies,
- Proactively reach out to families to close care gaps, and
- Coordinate care across distance using shared tools and workflows.
Besides identifying children in rural Kansas who are at risk for avoidable hospitalizations related to chronic conditions, the project has two other main goals. Second, it works with primary care providers to bring more preventive, proactive approaches into everyday care for these conditions. And third, it seeks to strengthen the financial stability of rural hospitals by reducing losses and ensuring that all Medicare and Medicaid patients in rural Kansas are connected to care models that reward prevention, quality, and better outcomes.
“By leveraging existing expertise, technology, and partnerships, this project delivers a scalable and sustainable model to improve pediatric chronic disease outcomes, reduce avoidable utilization, strengthen rural healthcare systems, and advance health equity for children and families across rural Kansas,” said Dr. Abdelmoity and Dr. Le Pichon.
Specifically, Dr. Abdelmoity and Dr. Le Pichon received this funding through the Regional Partnership Grant Program (RPGP)/Rural Health Transformation Program from Kansas Department of Health and Environment/Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services/Department of Health and Human Services for a project period of June 1, 2026-September 30, 2027.
Co-investigators include Dr. Maggie Barnthouse, Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; Dr. Emily Cramer, Health Services and Outcomes Research; Dr. Zarmina Ehsan, Sleep Center/Pulmonology; Dr. Erin Fecske, Neurology; Luke Harris, Integrated Care Solutions; Dr. Jacob Redel, Endocrinology; Morgan Waller, Telemedicine; Elizabeth Willenborg, Telemedicine; and Rachel Moran, Integrated Care Solutions; and Dr. Ashley Papenberg, Candace Ramos, and Georgi Erbert, all of Care Management, Patient & Family Services.
Stephanie Martinez, MHA, Research Program Manager, and Lulu Elhelu, Research Assistant II, Neurology, are study team members on the project.