- Weathering the Storm Together: Community Resiliency Hubs Hold the Promise of Local Self-Sufficiency and Supportive Mutual Aid
- Virginia Tech Researchers Bring Rural Families into the Nation's Largest Study of Early Brain and Child Development
- Expanding Access to Cancer Care for Rural Veterans
- VA: Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee, Notice of Meeting
- Scaling Rural Wellness with Clever Collaboration
- Stroudwater Associates Enhances Rural Healthcare Dashboard with New Data to Support State Rural Transformation Grant Applications
- Harvest Season Is Here: Busy Times Call for Increased Focus on Safety and Health
- HHS Dispatches More Than 70 Public Health Service Officers to Strengthen Care in Tribal Communities
- Wisconsin Rural Hospitals Team up to Form Network
- CMS Launches Landmark $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program
- American Heart Association Provides Blood Pressure Kits at Southeast Arkansas Regional Libraries to Support Rural Health
- Broadening Access to Minimally Invasive Surgery Could Narrow Rural-Urban Health Gaps
- Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together To Survive
- Help Line Gives Pediatricians Crucial Mental Health Information to Help Kids, Families
- Rural Health: A Strategic Opportunity for Governors
HRSA Announced Rural Health Funding Forecasts for 2026
Three upcoming rural health funding opportunities have been posted on Grants.gov. Additional details will be shared once the official Notice of Funding Opportunity is released for each. Prospective applicants may click the Subscribe button on each listing to get real-time updates. Stay tuned!
HRSA Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program – Estimated Post Date February 2026. The RRPD Program supports planning and development of new residency programs to strengthen the physician workforce in rural communities. For more information about program expectations and past application requirements, refer to the last year’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (HRSA-25-007). Training physicians in rural residency programs not only improves access to care in rural areas, but also increases the likelihood of graduates practicing in a rural community.
HRSA Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) – Planning – Estimated Post Date February 2026. RCORP-Planning helps organizations conduct needs assessments, create partnerships, and develop plans for sustainable prevention, treatment, and recovery services at the local level.
HRSA Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP)-Impact – Estimated Post Date February 2026. RCORP-Impact funds community-level organizations providing services for prevention, treatment, and recovery of substance use disorder (SUD) in rural areas. The program supports coordination across health and supportive social services; a larger, more responsive workforce to address SUD-related needs; and multi-sector community networks to strengthen and sustain local service delivery.
ARC Publishes Evaluation of the Impact of ARISE
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) released the second annual evaluation of the Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE).
The report evaluates data collected from 57 projects between September 2024 and August 2025. Included are summaries of progress and early impacts of ARISE-funded projects.
The report also identifies emerging themes related to successes, challenges and experiences implementing multi-state projects.
To date, ARISE grantees have served:
- 14,500 people, with over 5,600 improved
- 3,300 businesses and organizations, with over 900 improved
- 600 communities, with nearly 500 improved.
Grantees reported more than 300 jobs created, in total, and one grantee reported nearly 1,400 jobs retained. Nearly 200 ARISE grantees and partners rated multi-state collaboration as a “significant strength” of their projects. Benefits of multi-state projects included more cross-state collaboration, knowledge transfer, increased efficiency, and wider-reaching strategies.
USDA Rural Development Funding Opportunities, Resources, Events
Funding Opportunities for Infrastructure
Community Facilities Direct Loan Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. Projects include fire and rescue stations, town halls, health care clinics and hospitals. Application deadline: Open
Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides loan guarantees to eligible lenders to develop essential community facilities (CF) in rural areas. Examples of community facilities include health care facilities, buildings like town halls, and public safety facilities such as fire departments. Application deadline: Open
Electric Infrastructure Loan & Loan Guarantee Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides insured loans and loan guarantees to nonprofit and cooperative associations, public bodies, and other utilities. Insured loans primarily finance the construction of electric distribution facilities in rural areas. Application deadline: Open
Multifamily Housing Loan Guarantees
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development works with qualified private-sector lenders to provide financing to qualified borrowers to increase the supply of affordable rental housing for low- and moderate-income individuals and families in eligible rural areas and towns. Application deadline: Open
Water & Waste Disposal Loan & Grant Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage and solid waste disposal, and storm water drainage to households and businesses in eligible rural areas. Application deadline: Open
Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grant Program
U.S. Department of Transportation
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Office of Infrastructure Deployment provides grants for surface transportation infrastructure projects with significant local or regional impact. Application deadline: 2/24/2026
Funding Opportunities Supporting Community and Economic Development
Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Programs
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides funding for rural projects through local utility organizations. USDA provides zero-interest loans to local utilities which they, in turn, pass through to local businesses (ultimate recipients) for projects that will create and retain employment in rural areas. Application deadline: 12/31/2025
Timber Production and Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP)
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides financial support to qualified lenders whose loan applicants want to establish, reopen, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood processing facility that process ecosystem restoration byproducts from USDA Forest Service National Forest System lands. Application deadline: Applications will be accepted until funds are expended.
Water and Waste Disposal Pre-development Planning Grants
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development offers grants to help eligible low-income, rural communities plan and develop applications for the Water and Waste Disposal loan/grant and loan guarantee programs. Application deadline: Open
Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup Grant Competition
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) grants allow more vacant and abandoned properties to be turned into community assets that can attract jobs and promote economic revitalization in communities. Application deadline: 1/28/2026
Subscribe to Innovation Matters to stay current on open funding opportunities!
CDC’s Office of Rural Health Reflects on 2025
As we close out the year, we extend our deepest gratitude for your partnership with our office and your support of our work. The dedication and resilience you bring to rural communities every day, and your commitment to improving rural health outcomes, continues to inspire us and make a profound impact across the nation.
The year has been filled with changes and moments that remind us why this work is so important and why sustaining valued partnerships is essential to improving the health and well-being of rural communities. Your support enabled CDC’s Office of Rural Health (ORH) to achieve several milestones this year.
Rural Public Health Leadership
- We published our research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) among Medicare Fee-for-Service and Advantage beneficiaries in rural America, examining rates by U.S. region, sex, and race. This research highlighted the need for tailored interventions to address the growing burden of ADRD in rural areas.
- We worked with CDC’s editorial staff of Preventing Chronic Disease on a collection that underscores the growing recognition of rural public health as an important area of study, creating better understanding of rural health in both healthcare and public health contexts.
Strategic Engagement and Partnership
- We met with many of you at this year’s National Rural Health Association (NRHA) Conference and the CDC Experience at our headquarters in Atlanta, GA—both inspiring and invigorating. We enjoyed having these opportunities to meet and talk with everyone.
- Working with partners, we connected rural clinical experts with CDC’s Measles response. This led to implementation of community-driven strategies that enhanced local preparedness and response capacity. It also established communication channels that will help sustain response efforts.
- We expanded engagement with rural local health departments and enhanced program evaluation activities of health department successes through our partnership with NORC at The University of Chicago (NORC). Together, these activities provided important lessons that will inform future rural programming and guide ORH’s technical assistance.
- We collaborated with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) to engage state health officials in deepening their understanding of complex, rural public health challenges. This pilot project served as a platform for peer-to-peer sharing of promising practices and provided an opportunity for state-level health leaders and ASTHO to build relationships and identify challenges related to rural health.
Cross-Agency Coordination
- We led a group of “rural champions” from across the agency and identified 86 strategic rural health activities. This work established a baseline to track implementation of CDC’s Rural Public Health Strategic Plan. These rural initiatives include emerging and infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigations, emergency preparedness and response, and maintaining the nation’s public health infrastructure.
- We advanced rural public health at CDC by providing more than 20 presentations and consultations and strengthened cross-agency communication and coordination. We equipped initiatives focused on emergency preparedness, nonprofit capacity building, and substance abuse prevention with resources to address challenges and best practices to better serve local, rural communities.
Capacity Building
- We are excited to share the release of the new Rural Public Health Training Plan, which has been in development since 2024. The plan consists of six foundational courses designed to strengthen understanding of rural public health systems and deepen knowledge of the experiences of rural communities. Please share this resource with your networks.
- All courses are now available on CDC TRAIN and offer free Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to support workforce development. We extend our sincere appreciation to Cornell University, NORC, and Population Health Innovation Lab (PHIL) for their partnership in bringing this resource to life. Additional courses are currently in development and will be released at a future date, so please stay tuned.
In closing, thank you for your unwavering partnership as we all work toward healthier, more vibrant rural communities. Over the past year, we saw a notable increase in downloads of the Rural Public Health Strategic Plan, reflecting the reach and impact made possible through strong relationships. We look forward to connecting more with you in 2026. If you have any questions or partnership ideas, contact us at ruralhealth@cdc.gov.
CMS Proposes New Price Transparency Rules
From Becker’s Hospital Review
President Donald Trump’s administration proposed significant updates Dec. 19 to healthcare price transparency rules to help make costs more “clear, accurate and actionable for Americans.” The proposal, shared by CMS, in partnership with the labor and the treasury departments, builds on rules established during President Trump’s first term.
“Americans have a right to know what healthcare costs before they pay for it,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in a Dec. 19 news release. “This proposal delivers real transparency by turning hidden pricing into clear, usable information — so families can make informed decisions and hold the system accountable.”
The 2020 Transparency in Coverage rules marked President Trump’s first major effort to require health insurance companies to release detailed healthcare pricing information to the public, but the data has been difficult for employers, the broader public and researchers to navigate and access. The new updates would address this by requiring health plans and insurers to simplify how they organize data, making consumer-facing cost tools more easily accessible and cutting unnecessary information.
Some of the suggested improvements, which mainly apply to health plans and insurers, feature excluding unlikely services from in-network rate files, adding change-log and utilization files to improve tracking, reorganizing files by provider network to cut back on redundancy, reducing reporting frequency from monthly to quarterly and growing out-of-network pricing data with longer reporting periods and lower claims thresholds.
Price comparison tools are also strengthened under the proposed rule, requiring issuers to provide detailed, consistent cost-sharing information by phone, in print and online. The No Surprises Act would have updated disclosures reflect protections to help patients know their rights and potential financial responsibilities.
Major changes to prescription drug disclosure requirements are not included in the proposed rule, which the department plans to separately address.
Feedback can be submitted by stakeholders on the proposed rule during a 60-day comment period, which ends Feb. 21.
“Every person deserves to know what their health care will cost without needing a team of analysts to decode it,” CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, said in the release. “This overhaul takes a giant step toward that effort. By delivering clearer, more reliable pricing information, we are empowering Americans to take control of their care and creating a more competitive and affordable health system in the process.”
CMS Creates Office to Oversee Rural Health Funding
From Becker’s Hospital Review
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has created an office focused on rural health transformation initiatives.
The Office of Rural Health Transformation will oversee the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, according to an announcement published in the Federal Register.
The program aims to improve access, care quality and infrastructure in rural communities. Unlike previous federal relief programs, this one does not provide direct payments to rural hospitals. Instead, states applied for and will manage the funds. All 50 states filed applications for a share of the $50 billion fund.
The office will be responsible for developing grant application criteria, reviewing applications and awarding funds in coordination with CMS’ Office of Acquisition and Grants Management.
The office will also serve as CMS’ lead point of contact for rural health transformation policy, operations and public inquiries, including from congressional offices and healthcare providers. It will advise CMS leadership on rural health policy and coordinate with states, healthcare providers, advocacy groups and other federal agencies on rural health initiatives.
A Division of State Rural Engagement will operate within the office. The division will work directly with states to implement approved rural health transformation plans, conduct readiness reviews and provide ongoing monitoring and oversight.
The revised organizational structure was approved by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on December 18.
Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health Releases 2024-25 Impact Report
For thirty-two years, the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH) has championed equity in, and access to, quality health care for Pennsylvania’s rural residents. One of fifty state offices of rural health in the nation, PORH is the source of technical assistance, partnership development, networking, and advocacy to advance rural health access.
We are pleased to announce the publication of our 2025 Impact Report –Enhancing the Health Status of Rural Pennsylvania. This report highlights the activities the organization has undertaken during the last fiscal year to support the delivery of health care services throughout rural Pennsylvania and the nation.
Click here to learn more about our work to advance rural health access!
We look forward to your feedback on our activities and thank you for your ongoing partnership.
New Publication Shows Worse Nursing-Sensitive Indicators in Black-Serving Hospitals
Penn State Center for Health Care and Policy Research (CHCPR) faculty affiliate Dr. Jeannette Rogowski, Professor of Health Policy and Administration, published a report in Nursing Research assessing nursing-sensitive indicators in hospitals that serve higher proportions of Black patients (Black-serving hospitals). Black-serving hospitals were previously found to have higher mortality, poorer patient safety, and worse nurse staffing, but little was known about nursing-sensitive indicators. Nursing-sensitive indicators inform patient safety and care quality specifically from nursing care, and are influenced by skill mix, staffing, and workplace culture.
In an analysis of 3,101 hospitals, Dr. Rogowski and her collaborators found that Black-serving hospitals had significantly worse nursing-sensitive indicators than non-Black-serving hospitals in three of the four categories (pressure ulcer, pulmonary embolism/deep vein thrombosis, and sepsis). The differences in nursing-sensitive indicators across hospital types ranged from 6% to 18%.
This is the first study comparing nursing-sensitive indicators among Black-serving hospitals and non-Black-serving hospitals. These findings revealed another avenue to disparities in health outcomes and presented opportunities to improve health equity from policy and management perspectives.
Lake ET, Tibbitt CC, Rizzo JF, Iroegbu C, Smith JG, Staiger DO, Rogowski JA. Worse Nursing-Sensitive Indicators in Black-Serving Hospitals. Nursing Research. 2025; 74 (4): 324-328. doi: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000819.
A link to the full text of the article is here.
Pennsylvania Oral Health Coalition Promotes Awareness of National Study on Fluoridation
The PA Coalition for Oral Health (PCOH) recently published a press release relating to a new large-scale U.S. study published in Science Advances that offers important clarity on the safety of fluoride in drinking water. The study found that children exposed to recommended levels of fluoride in municipal water experienced no negative effects on brain development, and in some cases, it showed modest improvements in cognitive performance during adolescence.
Hershey Medical Center Becomes Third National Guard Training Center in U.S.
Hershey Trauma, Readiness, Education and Training Program immerses National Guard members in real-world medical scenarios to enhance deployment readiness
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has been designated as the third National Guard Training Center in the United States, and the only program on the East Coast, offering specialized trauma and deployment skills training through the Hershey Trauma, Readiness, Education and Training Program.
Designed to prepare National Guard members for deployment by immersing them in real-world medical scenarios, the program enhances their ability to provide critical care under pressure. Participants will train alongside staff in Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s Level 1 Trauma Center, gaining hands-on experience in advanced medical techniques and procedures.
“We are honored to play a role in equipping National Guard members with the skills they need to respond effectively in emergencies and combat zones,” said Don McKenna, president of Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. “Our expertise in trauma care, combined with a shared commitment to community service, makes this partnership a perfect fit to support the readiness and effectiveness of the National Guard.”
The first cohort begins on Jan. 27 with three participants and will conclude on Feb. 7. Classes are open to National Guard members nationwide serving as medics or nurses and can accommodate up to 10 participants. The two-week course includes rotations in clinical trauma, surgical intensive care, neurological intensive care, and emergency medical services through Penn State Health Life Lion and concludes with a capstone mass casualty simulation event.
“Trauma training is a critical part of ensuring the readiness of military medical providers for combat casualty care,” said Maj. Gen. Lisa Hou, director, Office of the Joint Surgeon General, National Guard Bureau. “We are excited to expand the opportunities for our National Guard providers to participate in premier trauma training at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the only Level 1 trauma center for both children and adults in Pennsylvania.”