Gov. Sanders announces $149 million in rural health grants

Gov. Sanders announces $149 million in rural health grants
Gov. Sarah Sanders announced $149.3 million in Rural Health Transformation Program grants Aug. 27 - the first round of funding that is expected to equal a billion dollars over five years. The grant funding came from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last year after $900 billion in cuts were made to the federal Medicaid program. The awards were part of $209 million in grants the state expects to award by this fall. According to a press release from the governor's office, Sanders expects Arkansas to receive roughly $1 billion over the next five years. The first round of funding covers programs served by two initiatives. Projects received $93.6 million through the Promoting Access Coordination and Transformation (PACT) initiative. Projects received another $55.7 million through the Telehealth, Health-Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE) initiative. PACT is meant to provide specialty care, preventive screenings, telehealth, and trauma-ready services to rural communities. At the same time, it will support locally-driven clinical networks, data sharing and regional collaboration, the release said. The THRIVE program is designed to expand...

Source: https://talkbusiness.net/2026/08/gov-sanders-announces-149-million-in-rural-health-grants/