Note: Eight days until Budget Period 1 closes, and the award lists are starting to land. The issue closes with a North Carolina deep dive. The RHTP Q3 2026 Quarterly Report is out for paid subscribers; any subscription gets access.
In this issue:
Utah opens the SPRINT-UETN RFA, due November 20
Texas moves its Rural Texas Patients in the Driver’s Seat deadline to January 12
Hawaii defines rural for its HOME RUN Education Award: every Neighbor Island plus eight O’ahu ZIP codes
Mississippi names 60 awards worth $32.6 million from its Workforce Expansion Initiative and Psychiatric Emergency Services NOFOs
Oklahoma opens OSU’s Tech Co-Op and Consumer Facing Tech Enrollment Forms, due December 1
Michigan posts its RHTP Annual Report Year 1: $13.3 million obligated to six first-tier entities
Idaho names 114 awards worth $180.7 million in its list of awardees as of Oct. 16
North Carolina deep dive: review of the BP1 annual report and the six NC ROOTS hub regions
Utah opens the SPRINT-UETN RFA, due November 20
When we covered the SPRINT Consortium Application October 15, the deadline was posted but the form wasn’t live. It is now:
UETN is accepting applications for rural health technology subawards in four areas: EHR upgrades, cybersecurity, AI and automation, and interoperability and patient access. Read the full RFA before you begin. Applications are due November 20, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. MT. Questions: RHTP@uetn.org by November 19.
Those are four of SPRINT’s seven Year 1 buckets: electronic health records up to $9.4 million, cybersecurity up to $4.5 million, interoperability up to $4.0 million and artificial intelligence up to $3.0 million, or $20.9 million of the $59.2 million. Capital infrastructure, revenue cycle and alternative payment models aren’t among the four.
Texas moves its Rural Texas Patients in the Driver’s Seat deadline to January 12
HHSC edited its Rural Texas Strong Timelines overnight:
Estimated Program Period Start Date: Nov. 9, 2026
Estimated Submission Application Deadline: Jan. 12, 2027
They replace Nov. 18, 2026 and Jan. 5, 2027, the Initiative 2 dates we reported October 9. No other line in the timeline changed. Initiative 2 now shares January 12 with Initiative 3, Lonestar Advanced AI and Telehealth. Initiative 5, Unified Care Infrastructure and Rural Cyber Protection, is still due January 19. Two of the three Year 2 RFAs are now due the same day.
Hawaii defines rural for its HOME RUN Education Award: every Neighbor Island plus eight O’ahu ZIP codes
JABSOM’s Area Health Education Center added a rural eligibility section to the HOME RUN page on October 20. Here it is:
Rural Eligibility for O’ahu Applicants
The HOME RUN Education Award is designed to support students and community members from rural and underserved areas across Hawai’i. For eligibility purposes, all Neighbor Island communities are considered rural.
On O’ahu, the following ZIP codes are designated as rural service areas and are eligible for HOME RUN opportunities: Wai’anae – 96792, Wahiawā – 96786, Waimānalo – 96795, Hau’ula – 96717, Lā’ie – 96762, Kahuku – 96731, Hale’iwa – 96712, Waialua – 96791.
HOME RUN is the $45,000,000 first-budget-period workforce line in Hawaii’s CMS-approved budget, with JABSOM as named subrecipient, which we covered September 1. AHEC ran the program’s informational session October 16. The page still prints no award amounts, application link or deadline. What it settles is who is in: everyone else on O’ahu, from Honolulu to Kāne’ohe to Mililani, is outside the line.
Mississippi names 60 awards worth $32.6 million from its Workforce Expansion Initiative and Psychiatric Emergency Services NOFOs
Governor Reeves announced the awards October 21, on top of the $104.1 million in first-year awards announced earlier. By program:
Workforce Recruitment and Sustainable Ecosystem Development: 20 awards, $6,207,040.92
Secondary Education Medical Career Outreach: 4, $1,012,835.34
Preceptor Expansion: 12, $3,019,993.00
Earn While You Learn: 21, $9,050,595.06
Psychiatric Emergency Services: 3 EmPATH units, $13,316,032.00 (Merit Health Central, $4.5 million; Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, $4,496,000; UMMC Greenwood, $4,320,032)
The four workforce streams total $19,290,464.32 against the $16.8 million the WEI NOFO offered. With this round, $136.7 million of Mississippi’s $205.99 million first-year award is now announced, about 66%.
