Pennsylvania rural health transformation program - pennsylvania's rural health transformation plan (rhtp) summary the name of your organization: the commonwealth of pennsylvania project goals:…

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services a $579.882 million cooperative agreement on December 29, 2025, under the Rural Health Transformation Program (CFDA 93.798) to transform rural health delivery across Pennsylvania through regionally led, technology-enabled models that strengthen local capacity and sustain high-quality, evidence-based care.

The award funds establishment of eight Regional Rural Care Collaboratives (RCCs) spanning Pennsylvania's Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance regions: Central, South Central, Southern Alleghenies, Southwest, Northwest, North Central, Northern Tier, and Northeast. Each RCC will bring together community and health system partners to prioritize local health needs, strengthen shared services, expand telehealth and clinical integration, and address pressing rural health priorities including maternity care, behavioral health, dental care, aging services, and primary and preventive care. The program responds directly to health priorities identified through dozens of listening sessions, roundtables, regional health summits, rural health improvement plans, and over 300 stakeholder website submissions.

Sub-recipients include the Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (AHEC), the University of Pittsburgh Medicaid Research Center, and other state and community partners. Work is performed in Pennsylvania with a period of performance extending through October 30, 2030. The award represents the obligated portion of a total program budget of one billion dollars authorized over five years at two hundred million dollars annually.

Pennsylvania rural health transformation program - pennsylvania's rural health transformation plan (rhtp) summary the name of your organization: the commonwealth of pennsylvania project goals: transform rural health through regionally led, technology-enabled models that strengthen local capacity and sustain high-quality, evidence-based care driven by continuous learning and innovation. Total budget amount: $200,000,000 per year x 5 years = $1,000,000,000 sub-awardee organizations: eight of pennsylvania's partnerships for regional economic performance regions: central, south central, southern alleghenies, southwest, northwest, north central, northern tier, northeast; PA area health education center (ahec); university of pittsburgh-medicaid research center; and other state and community partners. Use of rhtp funds: pennsylvania's rhtp addresses all five center for medicaid & medicare services (CMS) goals: 1. Rural health: we propose innovations that directly respond to the most pressing health priorities identified over the past two years by rural stakeholders through dozens of listening sessions, roundtables, and regional health summits, as well as through the state's rural health improvement plans and more than 300 responses submitted through our rural health website by stakeholders. Common themes include maternity care, behavioral health, dental care, aging, and primary and preventive care, areas that have been shown to reduce chronic disease, provide more years of healthy life, and decrease reliance on costly hospital care. 2. Sustainable access: we propose to establish eight regional rural care collaboratives (rccs) through pennsylvania's partnerships for regional economic performance organizations, which lead regional coordination and strategic investment in economic development. Each RCC will bring together community and health system partners to prioritize local needs, strengthen shared services, expand telehealth and clinical integration, and ensure residents have consistent access to high-quality primary and specialty care. 3. Workforce: underlying all rural health concerns is the need for significant investments and innovations in workforce development. We propose expanding the full spectrum of the rural health care workforce including allied health, emergency medical services (EMS), nursing, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, dentists, pharmacists, and physicians through rural focused training programs that target identified gaps in care. This will be accomplished by upfront scholarships, mentoring, short-term housing, stipends, and investments in the rural health provider training pipeline, with five-year rural health service commitments. 4. Innovative care: we will provide data and analytic support to the rccs to analyze the impact of innovative digital models of care delivery, flexible care, alternative payment models, and "right-sizing" rural hospitals to shift care to lower cost settings, while improving access to essential health care services. 5. Technological innovation: we will scale promising consumer-facing applications, telehealth, technology-enabled, and AI solutions to improve care and efficiency and lower costs. We will invest in digital and informational technology infrastructure to allow for clinical integration of electronic health records (ehrs).