Sanders Announces Nearly $150 Million Awarded in Rural Health Transformation Funds

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders today announced $149.3 million in awards to recipients of the first round of Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) grants, established through President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

The initial funding round will award $55.7 million through the Telehealth, Health-Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE) initiative and $93.6 million through the Promoting Access Coordination and Transformation (PACT) priority. The awards are part of the $209 million the state expects to award by this fall.

Governor Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) anticipate that Arkansas will receive approximately $1 billion in RHTP funding over the next five years. Two additional initiatives of grant funding will be announced at a later date for the Recruitment Innovation Skills and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR) and Healthy Eating, Active Recreation, and Transformation (HEART) initiatives.

“Arkansas’ rural communities are home to families who work hard, care for their neighbors, and deserve access to quality health care close to home,” said Governor Sanders. “Thanks to President Trump and his One Big Beautiful Bill, these awards will help local hospitals, health care providers, and community partners bring new services and technology directly to the Arkansans who need them. I’m proud that we are investing in stronger, healthier communities and building a better future for families across the Natural State.”

“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 Arkansans, and I look forward to seeing RHTP investments drive equally transformative innovations for rural communities nationwide.”

“Just over a year ago, Governor Sanders tasked our RHTP steering committee with developing Arkansas’s RHTP plan to address poor health outcomes and need for financial sustainability,” said DFA Secretary Jim Hudson. “Our RHTP plan builds on Governor Sanders’ vision for addressing maternal healthcare in rural Arkansas, through innovative, collaborative solutions. We appreciate the hard work of the RHTP Steering Committee, Secretary Mann, Secretary Mallory, Dr. Ted Brown and Dr. Kay Chandler. Today’s announcement is the result of a strong partnership between healthcare professionals across Arkansas and state and local leaders. We look forward to the impact this program will have for decades to come.”

THRIVE modernizes rural health care delivery by expanding telehealth, strengthening emergency medical response, and deploying remote patient-monitoring technology. PACT brings specialty care, preventive screenings, telehealth, and trauma-ready services into rural communities while supporting locally driven clinical networks, data sharing, and regional collaboration.

The 50 project awards represent rural hospitals, health systems, emergency medical service providers, community health centers, universities, and nonprofit organizations serving communities across Arkansas. The projects will expand access to specialty and maternal care, strengthen behavioral health and emergency services, modernize rural health care facilities, and deploy telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and other technologies that bring care closer to patients.

The THRIVE grant recipients are:

ARcare: ARcare Rural Transformation Program (Woodruff, Izard, Baxter, Jackson, Franklin, White, Cross, Benton, Independence, Miller, Faulkner, and Jefferson counties) will upgrade remote patient monitoring, telehealth micro-clinics, EHR interoperability, cybersecurity, network infrastructure, and patient engagement tools through HOME, VIRTUAL, and TECH Fund activities. – $2,571,095.00
Arkansas Ambulance Association: EMS Coordinated Network for Emergency Navigation, Community Care and Telehealth (EMS-Connect) (statewide) will replace ambulances and add telehealth communications, connectivity and patient-monitoring equipment, data sharing, training, and a Patient Navigation Hub. – $10,000,000.00
Arkansas Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries: Living Well Rural Connect Initiative (Crittenden, Lee, Union, Jefferson, Ouachita, and Hempstead counties) will expand rural behavioral health access through telebehavioral health services, community access points, secure counselor technology, cloud-based systems, cybersecurity improvements, and startup support. – $423,761.29
Arkansas Children’s: Rural Health Management Network for Children with Chronic Disease (statewide) will provide remote monitoring and virtual care coordination for rural children with asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and single-ventricle heart disease. – $210,000.00
Arkansas Children’s: Rural Newborn Alliance (Jefferson County and the 11 Southeast Arkansas counties served by Jefferson Regional in Year 1) will provide prenatal diagnostics, TeleNICU access, neonatal education, standardized care pathways, bridge-to-home services, and rural newborn care coordination. – $91,400.00
Arkansas Rural Health Partnership: Arkansas Rural Emergency Tele-Consultation and EMS Tele-Triage Network (Woodruff, White, Independence, Saline, Monroe, Lonoke, Cross, Prairie, St. Francis, Garland, Miller, Jefferson, Crittenden, Arkansas, Lincoln, Bradley, Grant, Chicot, Ashley, Lee, Phillips, Sebastian, Pulaski, Clay, Randolph, Lawrence, Greene, Fulton, Sevier, Hot Spring, and Howard counties) will equip rural hospitals and EMS providers for emergency teleconsultation and triage, including platform onboarding, workflow development, training, implementation, and evaluation. – $2,245,031.00
Arkansas Rural Health Partnership: ARHP TECH: Rural Chronic Care Initiative (Polk, Independence, Desha, Dallas, Bradley, Howard, Ashley, Jefferson, Chicot, Hempstead, Union, Phillips, Arkansas, Sevier, Ouachita, Little River, and St. Francis counties) will support technology-enabled chronic disease management through remote patient-monitoring devices, site readiness, patient onboarding, staff training, care coordination, and ZOLL heart-failure monitoring for high-risk patients. – $5,651,924.00
Baptist Health: Expanding & Enhancing Specialty Care Across Rural Arkansas: A Cardiology Pilot Initiative (Hot Spring, Clark, Cleburne, Union, Drew, Arkansas, and Columbia counties) will launch virtual cardiology rounds and post-discharge follow-up at rural hospitals without reliable on-site cardiology access, with capacity for expansion beyond the pilot. – $1,139,512.00
Baptist Health: Magnolia Regional Medical Center Information Technology & Virtual Care Transition to Baptist Health (Columbia County) will add Caregility virtual care, telemetry, licensing, endpoint technology, cabling, and cybersecurity infrastructure as Magnolia Regional Medical Center joins the Baptist Health system. – $197,542.00
Baptist Health: South Arkansas Regional Hospital Information Technology & Virtual Care Transition to Baptist Health (Union County) will add virtual care, telemetry, licensing, endpoint technology, cabling, and cybersecurity infrastructure as South Arkansas Regional Hospital transitions to Baptist Health Medical Center-El Dorado. – $589,378.00
Baxter Health: Baxter Health THRIVE at Home (Baxter, Fulton, Marion, Boone, Izard, and Stone counties) will expand home-based and virtual care through EMS equipment, community paramedicine, hospital-at-home services, remote patient monitoring, telehealth, chronic care support, cybersecurity, and interoperability planning. – $7,738,729.91
Carriage Hill Family Care, PLC: Carriage Hill Rural Digital Health Transformation Initiative (Greene County) will replace its electronic medical record system and improve cybersecurity, staff workflows, patient communications, and information exchange with hospitals, specialists, laboratories, and other care partners. – $150,000.00
Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc.: Arkansas Community Health Intelligence Platform (Arkansas, Ashley, Baxter, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Carroll, Chicot, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Columbia, Conway, Crawford, Crittenden, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Franklin, Fulton, Grant, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Little River, Logan, Lonoke, Madison, Marion, Miller, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Newton, Ouachita, Perry, Phillips, Pike, Poinsett, Polk, Prairie, Randolph, Scott, Searcy, Sevier, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone, Union, Van Buren, White, Woodruff, and Yell counties) will build a shared technology platform for Arkansas’ 13 federally qualified health centers, including health information exchange connections, population health analytics, interoperability tools, cybersecurity services, and implementation support. – $1,911,394.00
Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc.: Arkansas FQHC Clinical Decision Support & Specialty Access Initiative (Arkansas, Ashley, Baxter, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Carroll, Chicot, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Columbia, Conway, Crawford, Crittenden, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Franklin, Fulton, Grant, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Little River, Logan, Lonoke, Madison, Marion, Miller, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Newton, Ouachita, Perry, Phillips, Pike, Poinsett, Polk, Prairie, Randolph, Scott, Searcy, Sevier, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone, Union, Van Buren, White, Woodruff, and Yell counties) will implement VisualDx software, training, and program management to help participating FQHC clinicians diagnose and manage conditions that often require specialty input. – $130,410.00
Harbor House Inc. of Fort Smith Arkansas: THRIVE Rural TeleCounseling Project (Washington, Sebastian, Garland, and Benton counties) will expand one-on-one telecounseling with licensed mental health professionals for rural Arkansans with substance-use and mental health needs. – $37,230.00
Johnson Regional Medical Center: Tele-Cardiology Access Initiative and Network Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Modernization (Johnson County) will modernize wireless and network infrastructure, add telecardiology carts, and provide managed cybersecurity needed for local virtual cardiology consultations. – $974,455.00
LilyLink in partnership with the Perinatal Center: Rural Arkansas Technology-Enabled Maternal Diabetes Program (Benton County) will provide connected glucose devices, patient onboarding, diabetes education, weekly clinical review, treatment adjustment, and postpartum follow-up for rural pregnant patients with gestational or pre-existing diabetes. – $871,736.00
Mercy Health Fort Smith Communities: Mercy Arkansas Rural Digital Health Initiative (Carroll, Logan, Franklin, Scott, and Sebastian counties) will upgrade rural hospitals and clinics with specialty telehealth, AI-enabled SMART rooms, telemetry and imaging equipment, digital integration, and emergency teleconsultation capability. – $6,340,043.00
Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach: Le Bonheur Jonesboro Outpatient Center Telehealth Expansion (Craighead County) will add Level 2 fetal ultrasounds, EEG epileptology screenings, and pediatric subspecialty consultations at the Jonesboro Outpatient Center. – $340,725.00
St. Bernards Development Foundation: St. Bernards Rural Care Connectivity Network (Baxter, Cross, Randolph, Fulton, Mississippi, Lawrence, Clay, and Craighead counties) will expand telehealth, remote patient monitoring, smart-room technology, interoperability, cybersecurity, digital care coordination, and selected emergency-response tools. – $5,000,000.00
University of Arkansas: Rural Telehealth Readiness Initiative for Older Adults and Caregivers in Arkansas (Dallas County) will pilot telehealth-readiness training for older adults and caregivers through training materials, a resource website, AI-supported navigation, train-the-trainer workshops, and community education. – $176,847.00
University of Arkansas: Rural Access Data Analytics and Resource Platform (statewide) will expand the Arkansas Health Survey into THRIVE RADAR, an interactive rural health dashboard covering providers, telehealth, service gaps, workforce, broadband, transportation, health indicators, and geographic mapping. – $777,351.00
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: Virtu-RURAL (Remote Upgrades to Rural Arkansas Locations) (Searcy, Bradley, Carroll, Johnson, Jefferson, and Pulaski counties) will provide telehealth assessments, infrastructure upgrades, access points, and digital health training through seven rural partners. – $2,337,402.00
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: Stroke Pathways to Advance Rural Knowledge (SPARK) (24 rural Delta communities in Year 1) will connect communities, EMS, emergency departments, primary care, and stroke specialists through education, virtual neurology decision support, survivor navigation, workflow tools, and performance tracking. – $5,438,244.00
Wolfe Street Foundation, Inc.: Rural Recovery Connect (Pulaski, Clark, Saline, Faulkner, Sevier, Garland, Hot Spring, Polk, Montgomery, Pope, Grant, Miller, Yell, Franklin, Van Buren, Searcy, Sebastian, Craighead, Logan, and Hempstead counties) will install tablet-based telehealth kiosks, train providers, and offer clinic-supported peer recovery services at rural clinics and detention centers, with later connections from overdose response to peer support. – $369,619.00

The PACT grant recipients are:

Arkansas Rural Health Partnership: Arkansas Rural Hospital Emergency Power Resilience Initiative 2026 (Hempstead, Ashley, Dallas, Jefferson, Desha, Arkansas, Polk, Johnson, and Cross counties) will purchase and install emergency generators, integrate electrical systems, and conduct testing and preparedness activities so participating rural hospitals can maintain critical services during outages and disasters. – $5,000,000.00
Arkansas Rural Health Partnership: Arkansas Rural Behavioral Health Access, Safety & Stabilization (PACT-SAFE) Initiative (Polk, Independence, Desha, Dallas, Howard, Ashley, Chicot, Phillips, Arkansas, Sevier, Ouachita, Hempstead, Little River, Drew, Cleburne, Union, Columbia, Clark, and Bradley counties) will expand rural behavioral health crisis response, local treatment capacity, and patient and staff safety in communities facing service gaps, recent trauma, and provider shortages. – $1,455,689.00
Arkansas Rural Health Partnership: Rural Specialty Care on Command (Drew, Lincoln, Bradley, Columbia, Chicot, Cleveland, Union, Ashley, Clay, Randolph, Lawrence, Sharp, Greene, Fulton, Dallas, Desha, Crittenden, Poinsett, Phillips, Mississippi, Lee, Howard, Monroe, Arkansas, Polk, Ouachita, St. Francis, Logan, Scott, Sebastian, Crawford, Sevier, Hempstead, Jefferson, Pope, Garland, Clark, Faulkner, and Miller counties) will deploy virtual physician carts and portable telemedicine systems in participating rural hospitals to expand specialty consultation, care coordination, and local clinical decision-making while reducing avoidable transfers. – $4,480,877.00
Baptist Health: South Arkansas Regional Hospital Transition and Integration (Union County) will stabilize services across a seven-county region serving more than 120,000 residents through facility improvements, replacement clinical equipment, systemwide IT infrastructure, and operational integration into Baptist Health. – $12,000,000.00
Baptist Health: Magnolia Regional Medical Center Transition and Integration (Columbia County) will preserve rural hospital services by improving infrastructure, clinical and technology systems, patient safety, and integration into the Baptist Health system. – $3,000,000.00
Baxter Health: Rural Access Network: Regional Collaboration Hub (Baxter, Fulton, Marion, Boone, Izard, Stone, Searcy, Van Buren, Madison, Carroll, and Newton counties) will expand specialty and preventive care, modernize infrastructure, and create a regional network intended to serve 2,400 rural residents by Year 5, expand services in 10 clinics, and increase provider data sharing. – $12,000,000.00
Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas: Building Mental Health Capacity and Restoring Hope for Child Victims in Arkansas (Faulkner, Benton, Crittenden, Independence, Union, Jefferson, Pulaski, Washington, Garland, Boone, Sebastian, Clark, Craighead, Pope, Miller, Lonoke, White, and Polk counties) will expand access to evidence-based, trauma-focused mental health treatment for child-abuse victims and their families in rural and underserved communities. – $1,374,505.29
Conway Regional Health System: Maternal Mobile Health Unit (Faulkner, Conway, Perry, Pope, Johnson, Yell, Van Buren, and Cleburne counties) will use a mobile health unit, home-health infrastructure, telehealth, maternal-health specialists, and community partnerships to expand maternal preventive care and care coordination. – $795,960.00
Deckmax dba North Arkansas Rural Health Consortium: North Arkansas Rural Health Consortium (Baxter County) will develop a regional hub centered on Vitality Plus Ambulatory Surgery, with telehealth, remote patient monitoring, presurgical testing, clinical integration, mobile specialty care, value-based care infrastructure, and AI-enabled health technology. – $1,000,000.00
Delta Memorial Hospital: Home Health Revenue Cycle Alignment (Desha County) will improve home-health billing, claims submission, denial management, legacy accounts receivable, revenue-cycle dashboards, and financial sustainability. – $24,720.00
Doula Alliance of Arkansas: Access Starts at Home: Rural Maternal Care Coordination and Doula Support (statewide) will place 10 certified doulas in partner clinics across Northwest, North Central, Upper Delta, Lower Delta, and Southwest Arkansas and connect participants, doulas, and clinical teams through pregnancy and six months postpartum in partnership with MySwaddle. – $860,500.00
Jefferson Hospital Association: Jefferson Regional Air Handler 36 HVAC Project (Jefferson County) will replace a more than 50-year-old air handler with a health care-grade HVAC system to improve reliability, air quality, infection prevention, and continuity of care. – $3,000,000.00
John Ed Chambers Memorial Hospital, Inc.: Chambers Memorial Hospital PACT (Yell County) will improve rural health care access, workforce capacity, and infrastructure in Yell County and surrounding communities. – $2,187,999.96
Mercy Health Fort Smith Communities: Mercy Arkansas PACT: Preserving Access, Capacity, and Transformation for Rural Care (Sebastian, Scott, and Logan counties) will preserve critical-access hospital services in Booneville, Waldron, and Paris and strengthen Mercy Hospital Fort Smith as a regional hub through preventive, specialty, diagnostic, and procedural care; patient navigation and population-health infrastructure; and facility, safety, accessibility, and emergency-readiness improvements. – $12,716,206.00
Mississippi County Hospital System: Rural Hospital Access and Facility Improvement Project (Mississippi County) will modernize essential services, improve facility reliability, and strengthen local care capacity at hospitals in Blytheville and Osceola. – $9,602,657.00
New York Institute of Technology: Rural Maternal Health Expansion (Poinsett and Mississippi counties) will provide a mobile health unit, transportation, telehealth specialty consultations, care coordination, patient navigation, postpartum follow-up, and obstetric workforce training. – $1,524,031.00
North Arkansas Regional Medical Center: Rural Health Infrastructure & Access Transformation Initiative (Boone County) will renovate a radiation-oncology vault, modernize the emergency department, build a cardiology clinic, add telehealth at two rural clinics, and deploy mobile mammography. – $3,000,000.00
River Valley Medical Wellness: Driving Integrated Primary Care and Maternal Health to Rural Arkansas (Howard, Little River, Hempstead, Nevada, and Ouachita counties) will launch two regional mobile integrated-care systems with mobile clinics, interdisciplinary teams, hub sites, telehealth, transportation, behavioral health, chronic disease management, preventive screening, substance-use services, patient navigation, and outreach. – $3,500,000.00
St. Bernards Development Foundation: PACT Rural Care Network (Cross, Randolph, Lawrence, Clay, and Craighead counties) will implement a digital visual-management platform across six facilities to standardize workflows and improve infection prevention, care coordination, workforce effectiveness, quality, and patient safety. – $9,551,090.00
Subiaco Abbey: Health Center Rural Health Access and Care Transformation (Logan County) will improve its on-site Health Center through facility, transportation, telehealth, and workforce investments addressing accessibility, infection control, emergency preparedness, continuity of care, and operations. – $268,500.00
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: Specialty Telehealth Access for Rural Communities in Arkansas (STAR) (Clay, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, Randolph, Sharp, Arkansas, Monroe, Phillips, Clark, Hot Spring, Montgomery, Polk, and Sevier counties) will create a telehealth hearing-care network that provides screening, specialist triage, diagnosis, and treatment through community sites and rural clinics. – $1,228,624.00
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: Arkansas Pregnancy Care Connect (Clark, Columbia, Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, Ouachita, Pike, Polk, Sevier, Union, Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Marion, Newton, Searcy, Sharp, and Stone counties, with a statewide advice line) will combine mobile teams serving 24 high-need counties with a 24/7 nurse-led pregnancy and postpartum line providing triage, education, referrals, and escalation support. – $2,986,934.00
White County Medical Center: Breast Resources, Imaging, Diagnosis & Guidance for Early Detection (BRIDGE) (White, Independence, Cleburne, Jackson, Prairie, and Woodruff counties) will preserve and expand breast-cancer screening, diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, image-guided procedures, patient navigation, and follow-up for rural women. – $839,314.00
White County Medical Center: Critical Infrastructure for Care Access Project (CICAP) (White and Jackson counties) will replace Unity Health Newport’s aging 33,000-square-foot roof to protect medical equipment and IT systems and maintain emergency, inpatient, outpatient, diagnostic, and specialty services. – $600,000.00
White County Medical Center: Wellness, Engagement, Long-Term Health, and Local Access (WELL) (White County) will expand chronic-care management, preventive care, and population-health services through staff, technology, and facility improvements at Unity Health Newport’s Green Family Practice Clinic and Family Practice Associates, supporting up to 750 patients. – $466,182.00

Project specifics are based off recipient organizations’ applications and the details of each grant will not be finalized until DFA signs an official agreement with each grantee.

This project is 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 $208,779,396.02, with 100% funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS or the U.S. Government.

A map of the Arkansas counties impacted by this round of RHTP first grants is below.

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