Note: I’m quoted in this article on Marketplace: “States bet big on rural health startups, with a Silicon Valley twist”. I’ve done a deep dive into Catalyst funds (and other tech investments) in every state. Look for more in 30 days in our next quarterly report, available to all paod subscribers. Meantime, peep previous:
2026 Q2 Newsletter Activity Index: state-by state, topic-by-topic deeplinks
Q2 RFP Review / Q3 RFP Watcher: Every procurement from Q2, near-term contracting outlook, and state-by-state analysis
The 50-State RHTP Field Guide: downloadable PDF with RHT personality, program maturity, federal outlays, open procurements, engagement activity, rural geography, and contacts
Rural Health Transformation Program State-by-State Reference Guide: an independent reference that collects scattered facts.
Lastly: Hawaii has been the quietest big-award state in the program, and it stopped being quiet this week — a CMS announcement this morning, a first contract award Friday, and two solicitations that close at 4:30 this afternoon. If you want the vendor layer of this program as it forms rather than after the contracts are signed, peep RHTP Verified Intelligence and book a call.
In this issue:
Maine sets its September Advisory Committee meeting for tomorrow, Wednesday September 2, noon to 1
Idaho swaps the Teams links for webinar materials on six solicitations, a week before applications close
Hawaii names $75 million of its $188.9 million, as CMS announces $58 million to Deliver New Ambulances and Upgrade Emergency Communications Systems Across Hawaii and SHPDA awards $17 million to the Hawaii Primary Care Association
Virginia’s Provider Productivity RFA is the last VHCF fund open, $7 million to $9 million, due September 14
Missouri issues RFI 0000000012SL, two telehealth tracks, responses due September 9
Mississippi announces the First Round of Technology and Infrastructure Awards, with sub-award execution starting this week
Maine sets its September Rural Health Transformation Program Advisory Committee meeting for tomorrow, noon to 1
The two prior decks are posted: July 1 and August 5.
Idaho publishes webinar materials on six solicitations, applications close in a week
From email:
The five posted 8/11 close September 8. Healthcare Infrastructure Support, the $97,213,653 line we covered on August 19, closes September 13 and now has materials from both its Aug. 24 and Aug. 31 sessions. The deck says applications are assessed for completeness and eligibility as received rather than scored against each other in a closed round. File early. Eligibility is broad — clinics, FQHCs, hospitals, pharmacies, long-term care facilities, public health districts, tribal governments and organizations, and 501(c)(3) community-based organizations.
Three vendor events are still live: Crisis Intervention Training 10–11 a.m. MDT Sept. 2 after the Aug. 25 session was canceled, Statewide Chronic Disease Education Network 11 a.m.–noon MDT Sept. 2, and SUD Prevention and Behavioral Health Prevention back-to-back 1–2 and 2–3 p.m. MDT Sept. 3.
That drops the $185,974,367.81 repetition and the 52 percent line, since August 19 already gave readers 60 percent across the three.
Hawaii names $75 million of its $188.9 million, as CMS announces $58 million to Deliver New Ambulances and Upgrade Emergency Communications Systems Across Hawaii and SHPDA awards $17 million to the Hawaii Primary Care Association
What CMS announced this morning
Hawaii to allocate $45 million to the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine to administer various workforce development programs through the Hawaii Outreach for Medical Education in Rural Under-resourced Neighborhoods (HOME RUN) initiative.
An additional $13 million to go to the Hawaii Department of Health to acquire new ambulances for each county and upgrade emergency communications systems.
Governor Josh Green, in the release: “As a physician who has practiced in rural communities, I know that distance can determine whether someone receives care in time.” CMS adds that the announcement “is just one part of the larger overall funding amount being awarded to Hawaii for fiscal year 2026.” Nina Wu had it in Tuesday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Neither figure is new money. Hawaii’s CMS-approved budget narrative puts HOME RUN’s first-budget-period total at exactly $45,000,000.00 with JABSOM as named subrecipient. The $13 million is a slice of the Rural Infrastructure for Care Access initiative, whose BP1 total is $52,981,063.75 under the Department of Health and whose scope already covers EMS fleet modernization and the MEDICOM Center.
The $17 million award to the Hawaii Primary Care Association
Solicitation SHPDA2610. Notice of Award 08/28/2026. Awardee, Hawaii Primary Care Association. Original award amount, $17,000,000.00. Contract reference, ASO Log No. 27-097. Method of procurement, Request for Interest (RFI) — Sub-chapter 4.5, HAR, Federal Grants. Base period of performance, 10/30/2026 through 07/31/2027, the full $17 million inside that window. The record is HANDS award 183988. The scope, in SHPDA’s words:
The State Health Planning and Development Agency seeks a qualified contractor to provide statewide support for Hawaiʻi FQHCs under the Rural Health Transformation Program. Services include EHR/EMR modernization and optimization, network and cybersecurity readiness, interoperability, provider-facing analytics, workflow and practice transformation, training and technical assistance, and administration of readiness funding to support participation in value-based care and AHEAD-aligned payment and delivery models.
HPCA is the membership association for Hawaiʻi’s community health centers, and the award has it administering readiness funding to its own members. That is a management contract, the same shape as New Mexico’s Rooted in New Mexico administrator and Washington’s Rural Collaborative, and the third state to give a membership association the job of distributing money to its members.
It is Hawaii’s only RHTP award notice on record. The Hawaii Awards & Notices Data System holds 9,957 contract award notices and this is the only one that returns on either “rural health transformation” or “SHPDA.”
Two RFIs close at 4:30 this afternoon
SHPDA2609 covers rural hospitals: “organizational readiness assessments; EHR/EMR modernization; interoperability, data quality, and analytics support; technical assistance; implementation coordination; and administration of approved Rural Value-Based Innovation funding.” Its 8/24 addendum was “Answers to vendor questions and change of solicitation due date.” Its 8/25 addendum “clarifies the RVBI funding and budget requirements, updates offer form OF2 and extends the proposal deadline to September 1, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. HST.”
SHPDA2603 covers independent and community-based primary care: “provider recruitment and onboarding; EHR/EMR and health information technology modernization; interoperability and analytics; care management and practice transformation; accountable-care and multi-payer readiness; financial operations; sustainability planning; and, if authorized, administration of SHPDA-approved Participation Support.” Its 8/27 addendum responds “to vendor questions and clarify solicitation requirements, funding limits, cost classifications and replaces the original Offer Form with OF2 v2.”
Both scopes end the way the HPCA award does: the winner administers the funding.
What is left
CMS-approved first-budget-period totals from Hawaii’s budget narrative, with the named subrecipient for each.
$17 million of RVBI’s $25 million is committed, leaving $8 million for the two RFIs closing this afternoon, split however SHPDA wants between hospitals and the CIN/MSO. RICA has $39,981,063.75 unaccounted for after today’s $13 million ambulance line. Add the three named destinations — $45 million to JABSOM, $13 million to DOH, $17 million to HPCA — and $75 million of $188,892,439.75 has a name on it. The other $113,892,439.75, about 60%, does not.
The budget narrative also sets a minimum rural allocation rule for RVBI: “≥70% of award funds will flow to neighbor island counties.”
HOME RUN is already writing checks
The workforce money is not waiting on a solicitation. JABSOM’s Area Health Education Center runs HOME RUN as an investment program, and the Kuleana Connect Grant Program is open now in three tiers: Hoʻomaka, $1,000 to $7,500, for simple ideas; Hoʻoulu, $7,500 to $15,000, for multi-partner projects; and Kūkulu, $15,000 to $30,000, for larger collaborative work.
Eligible applicants are organizations, clinics, healthcare practices, community groups and collaborative partnerships serving rural Hawaiʻi; individuals can participate through a fiscal sponsor. The rural service area is Hawaiʻi, Maui and Kauaʻi counties plus eight Oʻahu zip codes — Waianae, Wahiawa, Waimanalo, Hauula, Laie, Kahuku, Haleiwa and Waialua. Applications run through a Google Form on that page. Questions to connect@hsrha.org.
The parallel HOME RUN Educational Awards line covers provider recruitment and retention investments, relocation assistance, rural workforce training support, temporary housing assistance, allied health and career advancement pathways, and mentorship and career pathway support. Named eligible applicants: physicians, advanced practice providers, allied health professionals, behavioral health workers, community health workers, health IT professionals, and students and trainees.
The watchlist
AMHD 420-1-27, “Rural Health Transformation Plan - Rural Health Infrastructure for Care Access,” ran 07/31 to 08/28 out of the Department of Health’s Adult Mental Health Division, island of Hawaiʻi. The state’s own description: “The Department of Health, Behavioral Health Administration, Adult Mental Health Division (AMHD) plans the procurement of integrated behavioral health services, including both mental health and substance use, and expanded mental health outreach capacity. AMHD is soliciting community input in the preparation for the development of a Request for Proposal.” That RFP is the next thing out of RICA, and the numbering implies a series.
Pili Ola has been buying since April through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii on its own procurement site: #001-2026 Telehealth Strategic Planning Services, issued April 20 and due May 4; #002-2026 Telehealth Safety Net Development, issued April 17 and due May 1; and #004-2026 Digital Navigation, Participant Engagement, and Community Health Operations CRM Platform and Services, issued July 15 and due July 29. All three closed. Procurement contact is Christina Higa, PhD, at tasiadmin@uhtasi.org. #003 has never been published, on the RFP page or the RFQ page. None of the three appeared on a Hawaii .gov RHTP page.
