By Marc Williams
This week, Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) announced that Colorado is directing $169,587,181 in Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) grants to rural healthcare providers across Colorado. This significant investment, funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will help protect access to care and support better health outcomes in Colorado’s rural and frontier communities.
HCPF is directing this funding toward hospitals and caregivers that are improving sustaining rural healthcare, including maternal health and supporting the healthcare workforce. The RHTP grant process was highly competitive, reflecting the significant need, interest, and opportunity across rural Colorado. HCPF received 112 eligible applications requesting more than $250 million in funding for 368 projects. Eligible applications underwent a structured, multi-step review process that considered the strength of proposed programs, geographic reach, representation across provider types, coordination and alignment across projects, and inclusion of RHTP initiatives.
“This funding will give rural healthcare providers some relief and help protect healthcare access across rural Colorado. Today we are awarding nearly $170 million to healthcare providers to improve the quality of care across rural Colorado, and I look forward to seeing how these funds make healthcare more affordable and accessible,” said Governor Polis.
“Rural communities know best what they need to build stronger, healthier communities,” said HCPF Executive Director Gretchen Hammer. “This historic investment gives rural healthcare providers across Colorado the resources to turn locally driven ideas into action.”
Through this process, 91 applicants and approximately 250 projects were selected to receive RHTP funding across 52 rural or frontier counties and 3 rural census tract counties. The awardees represent a diverse range of organizations, communities, and approaches to strengthening rural healthcare across Colorado.
“Rural and frontier communities and facilities have a longstanding tradition of innovation. When we invest in rural healthcare facilities, we invest in sustainable futures for our rural economies and communities,” said Colorado Rural Health Center CEO Michelle Mills. “These RHTP awards are a direct investment in rural resiliency and sustainability and will have meaningful impacts on the health of communities and individuals as our rural healthcare providers continue to provide comprehensive, affordable, and high-quality healthcare to our underserved rural populations.”
Highlights of the investment include:
Strengthening whole-person health by better connecting physical health, behavioral health, care coordination, and community-based services.
Expanding telehealth and access to specialty care, including tele-ICU and telehospitalist services, remote patient monitoring, and regional telehealth networks that connect rural patients and providers with specialty expertise closer to home.
Building and sustaining the rural health workforce through recruitment, training, career pathways, professional development, and retention strategies.
Strengthening EMS and emergency care through regional training and coordination, expanded emergency and transport capacity, workforce development, and critical lifesaving equipment.
Expanding mobile and community-based health care services through new vehicles and mobile clinics, community paramedicine, Mobile Integrated Healthcare, and home-based services that bring care directly to rural communities.
A complete list of Colorado Rural Health Transformation Program awardees and additional information about RHTP is available on the RHTP website.
About the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing:
The Department administers Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program), Child Health Plan Plus and other programs for Coloradans who qualify. These health care programs now cover nearly one in four Coloradans. For more information about the Department, please visit hcpf.colorado.gov.
About the Rural Health Transformation Program
The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) is a five-year federal initiative administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) designed to strengthen healthcare access, improve health outcomes in rural and frontier communities. The program supports investments in workforce development, innovative care models, technology-enabled services, and health system sustainability. The program was authorized under Section 71401 of H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21), to provide grants totaling $50 billion in federal funding nationwide from Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2026 through FFY 2030.
em>Marc Williams writes for Colorado Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing