Host Organization for Rural Health Forward

The South Dakota Department of Health is issuing a Request for Proposal to identify a single South Dakota-based partner organization to develop, implement, maintain, and host Rural Health Forward, a statewide training and resource hub designed to strengthen rural healthcare systems and address professional development gaps for healthcare professionals serving rural and frontier communities. This subrecipient grant is funded through the Rural Health Transformation Program supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The primary deliverables include conducting a comprehensive statewide needs assessment to identify specific training and education requirements for rural health professionals; implementing or adapting a secure, accessible learning management platform for statewide use; developing innovative, evidence-based curriculum and continuing education responsive to rural health professional needs; and establishing a data governance and evaluation plan to measure reach, competency gains, practice change, and outcomes. Key objectives include training 200 healthcare professionals in Year 1 and 500 by the end of the grant period, achieving 85% participant satisfaction rates, and demonstrating a 25% increase in continuing education completions compared to baseline. The selected organization must demonstrate robust IT security capabilities, including Single Sign-On integration with the State's OAuth 2.0 identity management system, AES256-level data encryption, web application vulnerability scanning, WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility compliance, and cyber liability insurance with minimum limits of one million dollars. The RFP requires submission of a Letter of Intent by March 13, 2026, and proposals are due by April 17, 2026, at 5:00 PM CST, with an anticipated award decision and contract negotiation scheduled for July 1, 2026. The initial contract term is two years with renewal opportunities for up to three additional years, with Stage-Gate checkpoints tied to payment milestones tied to deliverables including the Statewide Needs Assessment Report, Governance and Charter, Platform Standards, Curriculum and Course Accreditation Plan, and Go-Live Readiness.

The RFP does not identify specific set-aside designations or restrictions limiting organizational eligibility beyond the requirement that the applicant organization be South Dakota-based. No incumbent vendor or current contractor is referenced in the available documentation. The State retains ownership of all data created under the agreement and reserves the right to access and manipulate data through platforms including Microsoft Power BI, ESRI, and Tableau, requiring successful vendors to integrate with or support these existing State infrastructure tools. Proposers must complete the Security and Vendor Questionnaire and respond to standard contract terms and IT requirements outlined in Appendix A, with all costs related to required services, third-party software licenses, hosting, and maintenance included in the cost proposal. The RFP specifies that Budget Period 1 runs from December 29, 2025, through October 30, 2026, followed by four additional budget periods through October 30, 2030; however, the RFP does not establish a maximum award value, instead requiring each applicant to propose a budget aligned with project scope and noting that the final award may be less than the maximum amount proposed. Contractors selected will be required to sign a Contractor Security Acknowledgement Form and comply with the State of South Dakota Information Technology Security Policy (ITSP) Contractor Version 6.0, which mandates federal fingerprint-based background checks, multi-factor authentication for remote access, and strict controls on data handling and production environment usage.