Healthcare Systems Bureau

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a sub-agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, administers federal grant programs supporting health professions education, workforce development, and primary care and maternal health services. HRSA funds grants through state and local health departments, academic medical centers, and community health organizations to expand access to care in underserved areas.

HRSA has obligated $12.04 billion across 1,901 federal grant awards since 2009, funding 1,501 distinct recipients. Grant activity has been uneven in recent years: 297 awards in 2022, 862 in 2023, 414 in 2024, 14 in 2025, and 13 year-to-date in 2026, with the most recent award recorded in August 2026. The assistance-type portfolio is nearly exclusively Project Grants, with a single Cooperative Agreement in the portfolio.

Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented among the top five awardees, who collectively account for only 2 percent of recent awards by count and 4 percent of federal dollars. West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. leads by award count with 9 grants totaling $140.4 million in federal obligations, followed by University of South Carolina with 8 awards and $87.8 million, and University of Mississippi Medical Center and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences each with 6 awards ($45.8 million and $67.5 million respectively). By federal dollars, University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute tops the list with 4 awards and $155.2 million obligated. The long tail of recipients — comprising 1,496 of 1,501 organizations — reflects HRSA's distributed model of funding diverse health workforce and primary care programs across regional and specialty networks rather than concentrating resources among a small peer group.

The sharp drop in award volume from 414 in 2024 to 14 in 2025 and 13 in 2026 signals a significant change in HRSA's current grant-making cadence. This contraction warrants clarification from HRSA's operations or program staff before pursuing new opportunities, as it may reflect portfolio restructuring, program sunsetting, or reporting lag rather than sustained reduction in funding capacity. Business development professionals should verify current opportunity availability and funding-cycle timing directly with HRSA program offices before committing pursuit resources.