Rural Health Transformation Program
Program contact:
maharural@cms.hhs.gov
Grants.gov contact center:
800.518.4726
support@grants.gov
Self-service knowledge base
System for award management (SAM):
866.606.8220
Federal service
desk
The Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program offers funding to states for innovative system-wide change designed to strengthen rural communities by improving healthcare access, quality, and outcomes.
Strategic goals:
- Make rural America healthy again - Support rural health innovations and new access points to promote preventive health and address root causes of diseases. Projects will use evidence-based, outcomes-driven interventions to improve disease prevention, chronic disease management, behavioral health, and prenatal care.
- Sustainable access - Help rural providers become long-term access points for care by improving efficiency and sustainability. With RHT Program support, rural facilities work together—or with high-quality regional systems—to share or coordinate operations, technology, primary and specialty care, and emergency services.
- Workforce development - Attract and retain a high-skilled healthcare workforce by strengthening recruitment and retention of healthcare providers in rural communities. Help rural providers practice at the top of their license and develop a broader set of providers to serve a rural community's needs, such as community health workers, pharmacists, and individuals trained to help patients navigate the healthcare system.
- Innovative care - Spark the growth of innovative care models to improve health outcomes, coordinate care, and promote flexible care arrangements. Develop and implement payment mechanisms incentivizing providers or Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to reduce healthcare costs, improve quality of care, and shift care to lower cost settings.
- Tech innovation - Foster use of innovative technologies that promote efficient care delivery, data security, and access to digital health tools by rural facilities, providers, and patients. Projects support access to remote care, improve data sharing, strengthen cybersecurity, and invest in emerging technologies.
Funding may be used for:
- Promoting evidence-based, measurable interventions to improve prevention and chronic disease management
- Providing payments to healthcare providers for the provision of approved healthcare items or services
- Promoting consumer-facing, technology-driven solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases
- Providing training and technical assistance for the development and adoption of technology-enabled solutions that improve care delivery in rural hospitals, including remote monitoring, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies
- Recruiting and retaining clinical workforce talent to rural areas, with commitments to serve rural communities for a minimum of 5 years
- Providing technical assistance, software, and hardware for significant information technology advances designed to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity capability development, and improve patient health outcomes
- Assisting rural communities to right size their healthcare delivery systems by identifying needed preventive, ambulatory, pre-hospital, emergency, acute inpatient care, outpatient care, and post-acute care service lines
- Supporting access to opioid use disorder treatment services, other substance use disorder treatment services, and mental health services
- Developing projects that support innovative models of care that include value-based care arrangements and alternative payment models, as appropriate
- Additional approved uses designed to promote
sustainable access to high quality rural healthcare
services, including:
- Capital expenditures and infrastructure
- Fostering collaboration between rural facilities and other healthcare providers
Eligible applicants are the 50 U.S. states.
The application must come from a state government agency or office and include a letter of endorsement signed by the governor designating it as the lead applicant.
The District of Columbia and U.S. Territories are not eligible to apply.
Award amount:
- 50% of the funding will be distributed equally among all approved states.
- 50% of the funding will be allocated based on a variety of factors including rural population, the proportion of rural health facilities in the state, the situation of certain hospitals in the state, and other factors to be specified in the application instructions.
Estimated number of awards: 50
Estimated total program funding: $50,000,000,000
Links to the full announcement and online application process are available through grants.gov. The application instructions will be found on the related documents tab.
Applicant webinar #1
(Registration required)
September 19, 2025
3:00 - 4:30 p.m. Eastern
Applicant webinar #2
(Registration required)
September 25, 2025
3:00 - 4:30 p.m. Eastern
Related Content
News (1)
- CMS Launches Landmark $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program, view details
Organizations (2)
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, view details
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, view details
For complete information about funding programs, including your
application status, please contact funders directly. Summaries are provided
for your convenience only. RHIhub does not take part in application processes
or monitor application status.