Arkansas Announces $149 Million in Rural Health Grants
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has announced $149.3 million in the first round of Rural Health Transformation Program grants, aimed at strengthening health care in rural communities across Arkansas.
Sanders thanked the groups, organizations and lawmakers who helped bring the program to communities across the state.
Arkansas is expected to receive approximately $1 billion in Rural Health Transformation funding over the next five years. Sanders said the grant program was designed specifically for Arkansas and includes four initiatives focused on improving health care and building partnerships.
Sanders said the work behind the program is a testament to the effort put in by the RHTP team.
The first round includes 50 project awards to rural hospitals, health systems, EMS providers, community health centers, universities and nonprofit organizations. The projects will expand specialty and maternal care, strengthen behavioral health and emergency services, modernize facilities and increase the use of telehealth and remote monitoring.
Sanders said improving health care in rural Arkansas is essential to the state’s future.
Several projects will directly benefit Howard, Hempstead, Little River, Nevada, Pike and Sevier counties, as well as surrounding communities.
The Arkansas Rural Health Partnership received nearly $5.7 million for a rural chronic care initiative that will use remote patient monitoring and other technology to help manage chronic conditions.
Community Health Centers of Arkansas received more than $1.9 million to build a statewide health information technology platform, along with another $130,000 for a clinical decision-support and specialty-access initiative.
The Arkansas Rural Health Partnership also received nearly $1.5 million to expand rural behavioral health crisis response and treatment capacity, and approximately $4.5 million for a telemedicine initiative designed to bring specialty care to rural hospitals and reduce unnecessary patient transfers.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences received nearly $3 million for Arkansas Pregnancy Care Connect, which will provide mobile services in high-need counties, including Howard, Hempstead, Little River, Nevada, Pike and Sevier, along with a statewide 24-hour pregnancy and postpartum advice line.
A full list of grant recipients and projects is available on our website at southwestarkansasradio.com.