Grants Administration

Roles and Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of the Grants Administration include:

• Overseeing and coordinating all grant fundraising efforts, including applications submitted to any public, private and corporate entities on behalf of Carroll Hospital, Grace Medical Center, Levindale, Northwest Hospital or Sinai Hospital.

• Assisting LifeBridge Health team members in researching sources of funding for eligible programs and research projects.

• Assisting LifeBridge Health team members with the management of grant awards, specifically regarding programmatic and financial reporting requirements, in collaboration with the grants financial administrator in the Finance Department.

• Assisting LifeBridge Health team members with the review and processing of all grant contracts and agreements (including all institutional assurances and certifications) in collaboration with the general counsel’s office.

• Receipt, processing and documentation of all grant support given to LifeBridge Health. Grants Administration should be notified of any grant awards to any entity of LifeBridge Health.

• Maintaining complete grant funder records, including copies of applications, contracts, agreements, payments and reports submitted to the funder.

Policies and Procedures

• The Department of Corporate Development is responsible for overseeing and coordinating all fundraising for LifeBridge Health, including private, corporate and government grant funding.

• The Grants Administration team is responsible for registering all LifeBridge Health hospitals and employees to use federal and state government electronic application systems (such as eRA Commons, and Grants.gov).

• Excepting extenuating circumstances, Grants Administration requires a minimum of five weeks' notice (three weeks for grant and budget preparation lead time and two weeks for legal review and president’s signature — see item 8 below) for all grant application and contract submissions. Full budgets must be included in all grant application packages submitted for review and signature.

• The President of the hospital is the only individual authorized to sign grant applications and contracts or agreements on behalf of the hospital, unless the President grants written signature authority to a specific individual in her absence.

• Prior to submission, grant budgets must be reviewed by the department director and vice president to determine if all hospital costs are covered.

• Project Directors must obtain approval from their department director and vice president prior to submitting an application for grant funding.

• While Grants Administration staff reviews requests for proposals (RFPs) pertaining to grant applications being submitted in response to funding opportunities, it is the responsibility of each project director/principal investigator to familiarize themselves with RFP requirements and be actively engaged in proposal development.

• The responsible vice president must read and approve the grant proposal and any grant budgets by signing a contract Submission form that will accompany the grant proposals and grant agreements submitted to legal for review in advance of requesting the appropriate hospital President’s signature. The contract submission form will be drafted by the Grants Administration office. A minimum of two weeks is required for legal review and the president’s signature after the form is signed by the responsible vice president.

• Grant subawards from outside institutions are subject to the same review and authorization requirements as direct grant awards.

• Project directors must inform Grants Administration and the grants financial administrator in the Department of Finance when they receive notice of a new grant award, regardless of the funding source.

• All grant funds must be managed by the grants financial administrator, who oversees the Grants Module accounting system in Finance, to assure that LifeBridge Health is in compliance with all funder requirements as well as federal, state and local laws.