Nearly $150 Million Awarded in Rural Health Transformation Funds

LITTLE ROCK – Rural Arkansas faces real challenges when it comes to population trends, health outcomes, access to care, and keeping local clinics and hospitals open. In response, the State of Arkansas created the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program to help build a stronger, more connected rural health system so families can get the care they need close to home.

Funded by an award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the RHT Program focuses on practical steps that lift up local communities, support rural healthcare providers, and make smart investments in technology and partnerships that encourage preventive care and healthier lifestyles.

The program prioritizes rural residents in counties with the greatest needs, especially in the Delta, Ozarks, and southwest regions, where hospitals are most at risk and where poverty and chronic health issues are more common. It also provides support to all rural hospitals, rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, and behavioral or community health organizations operating in rural areas across Arkansas.

Last week, the first round of awards was presented to selected organizations at the Capitol in two categories: THRIVE (Telehealth, Health-monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion), and PACT (Promoting Access, Coordination, and Transformation). THRIVE modernizes rural health care delivery by expanding telehealth, strengthening emergency medical response, and deploying remote patient-monitoring technology. PACT brings specialty care, preventive screenings, telehealth, and trauma-ready services into rural communities while supporting locally driven clinical networks, data sharing, and regional collaboration.

Fifty project awards were given to rural hospitals, health systems, emergency medical service providers, community health centers, universities, and nonprofit organizations serving communities across Arkansas.

State senator Missy Irvin summed up today’s event.

“The steering committee did a terrific job selecting the awardees. I appreciate Governor Sanders and her team for their due diligence as well as the efforts of President Trump and Congress,” she said. “This is a generational opportunity for our state.”

Get more information, and the full list of recipients, at the Arkansas Rural Health Transformation Program webpage: arkansasrhtp.com.

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