Rural Health Transformation Program tracker › Arkansas
Arkansas
Rural Health Transformation Program- Program
- Arkansas
- First-year award
- $208,779,396 (CMS)
- Lead agency
- Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), in coordination with the Governor's Office
- Program page
- arkansasrhtp.com
- Contact
- The program office's contact details
- Where the plan names technology
- Arkansas's plan puts telehealth, EMS modernization and home monitoring under its THRIVE initiative, including a "Telehealth, Equipment, and Connectivity Hub Fund (TECHFund)," and says the state will "Use telehealth, conversational AI enabled monitoring and coaching, dashboards, and HIE integration to expand access." The program FAQ says "The THRIVE initiative anticipates large investment in telehealth, mobile health, and remote patient monitoring."
- AI named in the plan
- Yes
- Funding rounds
- Awarded Healthy Eating, Active Recreation, and Transformation (HEART); up to $6,000,000.00 (GROW Kids), $5,700,000.00 (FARM), $5,037,600.00 (MOVE), $1,100,000.00 (FAITH), $1,300,000.00 (HEAL) and $8,420,000.00 (IMPACT) in Year 1; opened Jun 29, 2026, deadline Aug 7, 2026; eligible: State government agencies, employers, hospitals and clinics, and schools, among others
- Awarded Recruitment, Innovation, Skills, and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR); up to $4,000,000.00 (LEAD), $7,000,000.00 (PATHWAY), $14,400,000.00 (RETAIN) and $1,600,000.00 (SKILLUP) in Year 1; opened Jun 22, 2026, deadline Jul 24, 2026; eligible: State health agencies, hospitals, clinics, FQHCs and rural providers, among others
- Awarded Telehealth, Health-Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE); $55.6 million; opened May 11, 2026, deadline Jun 12, 2026; eligible: Rural hospitals, clinics, EMS providers, behavioral health providers and clinically integrated networks, among others
- Awarded Promoting Access, Coordination, and Transformation (PACT); $93.5 million; opened Jun 8, 2026; eligible: Hospitals, FQHCs, community clinics, EMS providers and pharmacies, among others
- Awards
- Sept 24, 2026: $54.6 million to 30 HEART projects and 24 RISE AR projects. Second-round awards: $27.4 million through HEART and $27.2 million through RISE AR. The governor's office says the round "completes the distribution of the $208 million awarded to Arkansas this year." Announcement
- Aug 27, 2026: $149.3 million to 50 project awards. First-round awards: $55.7 million through THRIVE and $93.6 million through PACT. They include $6,340,043.00 for Mercy Health Fort Smith Communities to add "AI-enabled SMART rooms" among other upgrades, a North Arkansas Rural Health Consortium hub with "AI-enabled health technology" and a University of Arkansas telehealth-readiness pilot with "AI-supported navigation." Announcement
- Next
- The program FAQ says awards are approved "on a rolling basis throughout program years" and that "Organizations will need to re-apply for future program year awards." The PACT notice prints its closing date as "July , 2026." The state gives its first-year award as $208,779,396.02, and says grant details are not final until DFA signs an agreement with each grantee.
Sources: CMS, first-year awards, Arkansas RHTP program site, Arkansas RHTP resources, funding notices and FAQ, Arkansas's revised project narrative, Governor's office, applications open, May 4, DFA, PACT applications, June 8, Governor's office, first-round awards, Governor's office, second-round awards, CMS, Arkansas first-round awards, CMS, Arkansas second-round awards
Checked against its sources
What the money can pay for: What does the Rural Health Transformation Program pay for?.
The weekly letter, free, by email, with the daily briefing if you want it. Sign up with your NPI.