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In this issue:
Pennsylvania publishes $25M funding opporunity
Vermont publishes Mobile Integrated Health consulting RFP
A total of $25,000,000 in RHTP funding is available to stabilize or enhance rural health care access, promote rural well-being and fall under one of the following six initiatives in the Department’s federally approved RHTP application:
Aging and Access
Behavioral Health
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Transportation
Maternal Health
Technology and Infrastructure
Workforce
Qualified hospitals, health care providers, and rural health facilities are eligible for a payment for supplies, equipment, renovations, or structural improvements. Each entity is limited to one payment that may not exceed $1,000,000.
Please note that this payment is an initial funding opportunity. If you do not qualify for this RHTP payment, a future opportunity may be a better fit. Refer to the list of upcoming funding opportunities to for a preview of what to expect this year.
Here’s a deeper dive, because this is going to be a mad dash email push for a lot of providers come May Day.
What is the Rapid Response Stabilization Program? This program provides critical, near-term funding to preserve essential hospital and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) capacity, and to make foundational investments in technology and the workforce. The program provides a total of 25,000,000 in available funding, offering one−time payments ranging from $10,000 to $1,000,000 per qualified entity.
Who is Eligible? Qualified entities include hospitals, health care providers, and rural health facilities that have been fully operating in Pennsylvania since at least December 29, 2025. The facility must be located in or serve HRSA-defined rural census tracts or specific classes of rural counties (classes 4 through 8).
How Can the Funds Be Used? Funding must be used to halt the suspension, reduction, or termination of rural health care services, to reinstate lost services, or to expand/establish new services. Payments are restricted to one-time purchases such as supplies, equipment, renovations, or structural improvements. They cannot be used for ongoing projects that require continuous monitoring by the Department, and they cannot supplant other funding or insurance reimbursements.
To be approved, your purchases must directly align with at least one of the RHTP’s six core initiatives:
Aging and Access: e.g., non-reimbursable supplies for hospital-to-home community paramedicine, or expanding clinical training sites for nurse aides.
Behavioral Health: e.g., remote behavioral health consultation setups.
EMS and Transportation: e.g., repairing EMS infrastructure or increasing nonemergency transportation reliability.
Technology and Infrastructure: e.g., digital/AI infrastructure, outfitting mobile health units, or making structural improvements.
Workforce: e.g., supporting rural clinic training or new models like primary care medics and community paramedicine.
(Note: Certain items like educational awards, electronic health record systems, and P3N HIO onboarding are excluded from this specific certification and will be handled via separate applications.)
How the Application Process Works This is not a competitive solicitation; funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Specifically:
The Department will authorize program payments in the order eligibility certifications are received by the Department, as evidenced by the date and time the email containing the full eligibility certification and receipt of all required documents.
Wild.
The Department will accept the Program Request and Eligibility Certification via email starting May 1, 2026, through June 1, 2026 (or until the $25 million funding cap is met).
To ensure geographic equity, the first tranche of funding is limited to just two program payments per PREP region. Once two payments are awarded in each of the eight regions, or after June 1, 2026, a second tranche will open without regional limitations.
Application Checklist If your facility is preparing to apply, ensure you have the following ready:
The completed Eligibility Certification form.
A project description and a budget narrative (each not exceeding 2,000 words). Your budget narrative must clearly justify all expenses, linking tangible items (like a $40,000 portable ultrasound or $75,000 in roofing materials) directly to the project’s execution.
A formal quote or estimate for the planned purchases.
If awarded, all funds must be expended before July 31, 2027, and you will be required to submit itemized receipts or invoices within 30 days of incurring the costs.
Vermont publishes Mobile Integrated Health consulting RFP
Active procurement reaches five with stakeholder engagement, pharmacy test-to-treat, and more
Vermont now has five active RHTP procurements spanning the state’s $195M Year-1 award, with deadlines ranging from April 23 through May 15. The Department of Vermont Health Access is advancing two grant Notices of Application — Mobile Health Care Clinics (NOA #03410-180-26, due April 24) and Pharmacy Test-to-Treat (NOA #03410-190-26, due May 4) — while the VDH Office of EMS just issued a Mobile Integrated Health consulting RFP (due May 15) tied to Initiative 1 of the state’s narrative. The Agency of Human Services Office of the Secretary is also seeking a contractor for stakeholder engagement and development of the statewide Health Care Delivery Strategic Plan (due April 24, 5:30 PM ET), the centerpiece of Vermont’s Act 68 of 2025 obligations and the foundation for Initiative 1 (Regionalization). The fifth active procurement is the SUD Recovery Residences RFP (due April 23), targeting recovery housing for young adults ages 18–24 with a maximum award of $500,000.
Vermont’s procurement pace is notable. Vermont published its full project narrative on March 4, organizing the entire $195,053,740.44 Year-1 award into thirty grant subrecipients, two consultant procurements, and five contractor procurements across five named initiatives — Regionalization, Shared Services, Primary Care, Workforce Development, and Price Transparency. Where Oregon bundled all of its initiatives into a single RFGP and Nebraska staged 14 RFAs across its grant period, Vermont is releasing tight, single-purpose grant and consulting vehicles in rapid succession. The split between DVHA grants (NOAs) and AHS/VDH consulting RFPs also signals the state is treating clinical service expansion and strategic-planning capacity as separate procurement tracks.
The state’s Project Director on the CMS Notice of Award is Jill Olson, Executive Director for Medicaid at the Department of Vermont Health Access.
Legislation Watch: Kentucky and Missouri move forward
Two state budget vehicles are moving this week — Kentucky’s biennial budget crossed the finish line with a new Rural Hospital Assistance Fund written into it, and Missouri’s DSS appropriations bill advances toward conference.
KentuckyHB500: The $32.4 billion biennial state budget, now signed as Acts Chapter 168, carrying the state-level appropriation for Kentucky’s $212.9 million annual RHTP award and establishing a new $50 million Rural Hospital Assistance Fund for FY2026-27. Kentucky’s Rural Health Transformation Plan was accepted in full by CMS in December 2025, and the funds will be deployed over five years against chronic disease burdens, maternity care deserts, oral-care gaps, and behavioral health access in rural counties. Kentucky Today
Both chambers approved the free conference committee report in early April before sending HB500 to Governor Beshear, who signed the biennium budget into law. Kentucky Chamber Bottom Line HB500 has been delivered to the Secretary of State and enrolled as Acts Ch. 168.
MissouriHB2011: The FY2027 Department of Social Services appropriations bill carrying the state-level appropriation for Missouri’s $216 million first-year RHTP award. Covered in last week’s briefing after Senate Third Read passage — HB2011 is now a Senate Message awaiting House action on Senate amendments before heading to conference for reconciliation.
