Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced $54.6 million in awards to recipients of the second round of Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) grants, established through President Donald J. Trump's One, Big, Beautiful Bill.
The funding includes $27.4 million for 30 projects through the Healthy Eating, Active Recreation & Transformation (HEART) initiative and $27.2 million for 24 projects through the Recruitment, Innovation Skills, and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR) initiative. Combined with the previous round of funding through the Telehealth, Health-Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE) and the Promoting Access Coordination and Transformation (PACT) priority, this round completes the distribution of the $208 million awarded to Arkansas this year.
Over the next five years, Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) anticipate Arkansas will receive approximately $1 billion in RHTP funding to strengthen rural health. The funding will impact all 75 Arkansas counties and support education systems, rural hospitals, community health centers, faith-based partnerships, and nonprofit organizations.
"Transforming rural health care starts long before a patient walks through the hospital doors," Sanders said. "Thanks to President Trump's Working Families Tax Cuts, we're strengthening rural health care from the ground up – building healthier communities, growing our health care workforce, and giving providers the tools they need to better serve their patients. These projects will help Arkansans live healthier lives and build a stronger rural health care system for generations to come."
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the program is helping states like Arkansas develop locally driven solutions. "These 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," Oz said.
DFA Secretary Jim Hudson said the state held ten roadshow meetings across Arkansas before accepting a single application, hearing directly from EMTs, nurses, hospital leaders, and other healthcare professionals. "Their insight shaped the projects announced today," Hudson said.
HEART focuses on improving health outcomes and access to preventative care through community-based nutrition, physical activity, and chronic disease management. Projects include expanding access to local produce through collaboration with farmers and producers, establishing food pantries and distribution sites, creating nutrition and physical activity education resources, and leveraging churches, schools, clinics, and farmers as community partners.
RISE AR strengthens the rural health care workforce by expanding physician residencies and clinical training programs, recruiting and retaining rural health care professionals, and providing specialized training for rural hospitals and clinics.
The largest HEART award, $8,420,000, goes to the Heartland Whole Health Institute for a care transformation demonstration project spanning 27 counties. The largest RISE AR award, $4,402,000, goes to Mississippi County Hospital System for physician-training infrastructure, leadership development, and employee recruitment and retention support.
Project specifics are based on recipient organizations' applications, and grant details will not be finalized until DFA signs an official agreement with each grantee. The project is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as part of a financial assistance award totaling $208,779,396.02, fully funded by CMS.