MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Governor Kay Ivey announced a massive $144 million funding injection aimed at transforming healthcare access, quality, and outcomes across rural Alabama.
The initiative, part of the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP), awards 138 grants to local healthcare providers and institutions, ensuring that life-saving services reach citizens in every single county.
“Alabama is serious about creating systematic changes through the ARHTP to ensure every citizen has access to quality care. This program is enabling institutions covering every part of the state to improve healthcare for Alabamians through projects that are both innovative and sustainable,” said Governor Ivey.
The ARHTP is administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), developed in tandem with several state agencies. While the full plan spans 11 major initiatives, this initial round of funding jumpstarts five critical areas: Rural Health, Rural Workplace, Mental Health, Rural Health Practice, Collaborative Electronic Health Record (EHR) , IT & Cybersecurity.
Members of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), the Alabama Department of Finance, and the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency helped develop the ARHTP plan.
The projects are supported by a federal award totaling $203k, with 100% of the funding provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“The Trump Administration’s Rural Health Transformation Program is based on one simple idea: your access to quality health care shouldn’t depend on your ZIP code,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Funding new approaches to expand access to both primary and specialty care is a critical step toward achieving that vision for Alabamians, and I look forward to seeing RHTP investments drive equally transformative innovations for rural communities nationwide.”
“To say that there is great interest in improving rural healthcare in Alabama is an understatement. This announcement comes at the end of a process that included six packed-house informational meetings in different locations throughout the state, five grant application workshops and hundreds of grant applications,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell.
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