Rural health providers have joined together to form rural health networks as a key strategy for more than 30 years, finding collective strength by working together. Given their small size and scale, rural hospitals and clinics have relied on creating formal networks to build economies of scale to lower administrative costs and support clinical services.
Rural health networks have become more important in recent years as rural hospitals and clinics, particularly those that are independent. This structure helps these small providers navigate an increasingly complex health care landscape. Rural health networks can help their member hospitals and clinics take part in value-based care initiatives and find administrative and financial efficiencies while also supporting ongoing challenges such as recruiting and retaining clinicians.
As rural health networks have evolved to meet these challenges, FORHP has revised its grant programs to support these efforts. This included a series of listening sessions with rural health networks in 2025 to gather information to craft new funding opportunities that support these activities. Lessons learned from the FY 2026 funding cycle will inform a larger planned Notice of Funding Opportunity for rural health networks in FY 2027.