Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday announced the awarding of 34 grants totaling nearly $55 million to healthcare providers and institutions across Alabama as part of the second round of Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP) funding for 2026.
The grants will support projects covering rural areas across Alabama to improve healthcare access, quality and outcomes, and round out year one of funding for the program.
"Every Alabamian deserves access to quality care, and through the Rural Health Transformation Program, we are helping many providers and institutions improve healthcare for Alabamians throughout the state," said Governor Ivey. "I commend all the thoughtful efforts, from the federal policymakers and state administrators to our professional healthcare leaders, who are working hard to ensure the long-term success of this program. Once again, the Trump Administration is delivering meaningful results for real Americans."
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said: "The Trump Administration's Rural Health Transformation Program is helping states like Alabama develop innovative, locally driven solutions to improve rural Americans' access to high-quality care. Today's grant awards demonstrate how this historic investment is empowering rural communities to strengthen their health systems, put patients first, and bring better care closer to home."
The ARHTP plan was developed by a team that included members from the Governor's Office, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), the Alabama Department of Finance, the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency. ADECA administers ARHTP.
The second round of funding was awarded across five initiatives: Cancer Digital Regionalization, Statewide EMS Trauma and Stroke, EMS Treat in Place, Maternal and Fetal Health, and Simulation Training. Available funding was also awarded for additional projects in the Rural Health and Rural Workforce initiatives.
Among the largest awards, the Alabama Community College System received $20.6 million to establish a statewide rural healthcare workforce pipeline through Alabama's community colleges, and The Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences received $7.27 million to support a residential high school in Demopolis that will prepare students from rural communities for healthcare careers.
Other significant grants include $3.44 million to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to strengthen the state's emergency care coordination system for trauma, stroke and cardiac conditions, and $2.28 million to Greene County Health System to establish the Black Warrior Rural Cancer Detection, Navigation and Early Diagnosis Network.
"The goal of improving rural healthcare in Alabama is of utmost importance, and we are grateful to Governor Ivey and the Legislature for their confidence in ADECA to administer this program," said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell. "The projects announced today as well as those announced earlier hold great potential for improving healthcare in a wide range of areas, and we look forward to seeing the progress as these projects move forward."
During the first round of grant funding, announced in late August, projects in the Rural Health, Rural Workforce, Mental Health, Rural Health Practice and Collaborative Electronic Health Record (EHR), IT and Cybersecurity initiatives were awarded more than $144 million through 138 grants.
The projects are supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $203,404,326.54, with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS.