Oklahoma is preparing to enter the second budget period of a five-year federal funding opportunity seeking to transform rural health. Leaders from the State Department of Health offered updates on the projects Oklahoma has worked on so far using the more than $223 million award it received from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Rural Health Transformation Program is a $50 billion federal investment signed into law last year, alongside an estimated $911 billion in reductions to federal Medicaid spending over a decade. But the goal is not to make up for the cuts. Instead, officials want to transform how care is delivered in rural communities.
The governor's office designated the State Department of Health as Oklahoma’s lead agency for the program. The state’s application received one of the highest awards nationally.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released those dollars on March 6. Lisa Rother, director of Rural Health Transformation for health systems, said during a webinar this week that since then, the state has begun work on all 29 of Oklahoma’s programs under the funding opportunity.
The first budget period included microgrant awards to support one-time purchases of equipment and other assets. The goal is to improve healthcare access, outcomes and wellness in rural communities.
The over $3 million in funding is reaching organizations in 68 of Oklahoma’s 75 rural counties, including tribal nations, universities and federally qualified health centers, Rother said. It is covering investments in transportation vans, rehabilitation equipment, medical devices and vaccine storage.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education also selected 60 pre-K through 12th grade rural schools for a $10,000 grant to support presidential fitness testing. Oklahoma passed legislation during this year’s session requiring the state department to establish guidelines for districts to administer the test, including training for personnel, exemption guidelines and an opt-out option for students with parental approval.
Oklahoma has made progress on projects related to chronic disease management and transportation expansion. To address gaps in transit affordability and availability, Rother said the South Western Oklahoma Development Authority has issued 1,036 vouchers for trip reimbursement from April to June.
“These are trips that help support our rural residents with accessing their wellness services and their chronic disease management appointments,” Rother said.
The state is also working on funding projects under its Rural Regional Reorientation Program. The initiative is intended to improve access to local and specialty care, and reduce disease and avoidable hospitalizations. Funding could go toward areas like primary care, behavioral health and obstetrics and gynecology.
Rother said the department is notifying 20 organizations of their Rural Regional Reorientation Program award, and it is working with them on project plans.
The State Department of Health has also launched five Rural Regional Reorientation facilitators, each covering specific regions of the state. Rother said they will meet with stakeholders in their region to help them develop partnerships to build projects that could receive funding under future Rural Regional Reorientation Program opportunities.
“This helps us to avoid duplication of the same service type in the same geographic region and really enables you, as our stakeholders, to tell us what your top problems are that are informed by the data and the facts,” Rother said.
Jackie Kanak, director of Rural Health Transformation for population health and operations, said the State Department of Health is working on submitting an annual report to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It will feature the state’s grant activity and any budgetary changes that have occurred throughout the year.
By Oct. 30, they must show the federal agency they have obligated all the funds for the first budget period. Kanak said Oklahoma will learn how much funding it will receive for the second year of the Rural Health Transformation Program in October.
Kanak said the State Department of Health will begin launching new funding opportunities for the second budget period in January 2027. Available funding opportunities are on the department’s website.
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