Pennsylvania has been awarded $193 million in federal funding for the first year of its approved five-year Rural Health Transformation Plan (RHTP), to improve access to essential health services in rural communities.
This funding is renewable over five years, and states will have the opportunity to secure additional redistributed funding based on program performance and spending.
“Pennsylvania’s Rural Health Transformation Plan is the product of more than two years of collaboration, conversation, and planning to design strategies and opportunities to improve health and strengthen access to care in rural Pennsylvania driven by the leaders who come from and are invested in these communities, their residents, and their future,” said Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh. “This funding will be a catalyst for locally driven initiatives and solutions, focusing on sustainable innovations that will strengthen rural Pennsylvania and make high-quality health care accessible throughout our Commonwealth.”
RHTP funding comes from the Rural Health Transformation Fund, which was established by the federal reconciliation bill, and creates a five-year $50 billion nationwide grant designed to support rural health. Funding was allocated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) based on rules established by Congress dictating that $100 million per year will be distributed to each approved applicant state with opportunities to receive up to an additional $100 million per year based on state characteristics including rural population, land area, amount of uncompensated care, and the grant submission itself, to be awarded at discretion of the HHS leadership. Unspent funds from states and territories will be reallocated back into the program, so there will be opportunities to pursue additional funding based on program and initiative performance.
With the approved funding, Pennsylvania will work with established regional economic development entities to convene Regional Care Collaboratives, which will guide RHTP projects and funding for their regions. As these entities come together, the Commonwealth will use initial funding to establish Rapid Response Access Stabilization grants to support work already happening in local communities.
The Commonwealth’s RHTP was informed by extensive feedback and experiences of stakeholders across rural Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s Departments of Human Services and Health, along with Aging, Insurance, and Drug and Alcohol Programs worked collaboratively with rural stakeholders, community and educational leaders, County Commissioners, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly for more than two years, hosting listening sessions, regional rural health summits, and, most recently, open feedback opportunities specific to this funding opportunity.
