(a) The commission shall establish an emergency hardship grant program.
(b) The office may award emergency hardship grants to rural hospitals, rural hospital districts, and rural hospital authorities that have experienced:
(1) a man-made or natural disaster resulting in a loss of assets; or
(2) an unforeseeable or unmitigable circumstance likely to result in:
(A) the closure of the entity's facilities during the 180-day period beginning on the date the entity submits an application for a grant under this section; or
(B) an inability to fund payroll expenditures for the entity's staff during the 180-day period beginning on the date the entity submits an application for a grant under this section.