Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced nearly $188 million in awards to strengthen health care in Florida’s rural communities by expanding access to care, supporting rural hospitals and clinics, and growing the state’s rural health care workforce.
The funding will support more than 80 awards serving communities across 31 rural counties, home to nearly 1.2 million Floridians. Awardees include hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health clinics, and other health care providers and community organizations working to meet the unique needs of rural Floridians.
“These investments in rural Florida will strengthen hospitals and clinics, expand the rural health care workforce, and help ensure Floridians can access high-quality care in their own communities,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.
The awards are part of Florida’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), administered by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). Florida received $209 million through the federal-state initiative to strengthen rural health care systems, modernize infrastructure, expand access to services, and build the health care workforce.
This round follows funding awarded through procurements earlier this year to establish the infrastructure necessary to monitor program outcomes, track expenditures and deliverables, and provide support to subawardees. With this latest round of awards, AHCA has awarded the full scope of Florida’s RHTP funding to qualified organizations across the state.
“This is a transformational day for rural Florida as we implement the first year of a five-year initiative that will invest more than $1 billion to stabilize rural health care, expand access, and improve outcomes for Florida’s rural residents. Governor DeSantis is a champion of rural Florida,” said Senate President Ben Albritton. “I’m also grateful to Secretary Harris for working closely with Senator Simon and others to develop an application based on Florida’s specific focus and needs. This historic grant funding builds on the work of President Passidomo, Senator Burton, and Senator Harrell’s Live Healthy initiative and incorporates key policy and funding objectives of our Rural Renaissance legislation. These are exciting, generational investments in our rural health care infrastructure and the best is yet to come!”
“Every awardee in this round went through a competitive, merit-based review, and it shows in the caliber of the partners we are announcing today,” said Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun L. Harris. “These organizations know their communities, and they have shown us concrete plans to put this funding to work. This is what it looks like to close the gap between rural and urban health care access, one community at a time.”
“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida has continued to invest in our small and rural communities-ensuring those communities have the support they need to enhance the quality of life for Floridians,” said Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly. “These awards not only support essential health care initiatives that increase access to care, they strengthen the foundation of communities-building new opportunities for job creators and job seekers and supporting Florida’s position as the best state in the nation to live, work and do business.”
“This is a tremendous and exciting partnership between our state and federal government to provide much needed funding to strengthen Florida’s rural health,” said Representative Sam Garrison. “This initiative will support our mission in keeping Florida healthy through better access, smarter technology, and a stronger workforce.”
A breakdown of funding awarded in each region is as follows:
- Northeast Region: 14 awardees, totaling $51 million
- Southeast Region: 11 awardees, totaling $12 million
- Southwest Region: 21 awardees, totaling $45 million
- Northwest Region: 35 awardees, totaling $81 million
These investments will support a range of initiatives across Florida’s rural communities, including expanded clinical training and rural rotations, start-up funding for rural and satellite clinics, mobile health units, remote patient monitoring, and advanced telehealth services.
