Oregon awards the largest round of federal rural healthcare grants

The Oregon Health Authority has so far awarded $175.3 million in grants from a new federal program meant to support rural healthcare.

The Rural Health Transformation Program, established by the massive tax and spending law Congressional Republicans passed in July 2025, dedicates funding until 2030 for projects aimed at improving the health of people living in rural communities. 

On Tuesday, the agency announced it would distribute $97 million worth of grants to support 136 rural healthcare projects across the state — marking the largest round of funding it has awarded since the program began. 

Oregon received $197.3 million from the federal government for 2026, and it could receive up to $1 billion over the next four years of the program. 

Gov. Tina Kotek in a statement said there was overwhelming interest in the program, and the state is working on distributing the funds as quickly as possible. First year grant recipients can begin using the federal funding for projects this month. They must use the funding by September 2027.

More than $80 million in the latest round will support 103 projects across 85 organizations that competitively applied for funding. That includes $2.1 million for the Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest, a nonprofit offering education, physical and mental health services and substance abuse treatment to Native Americans. Another $2.3 million will go to the Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital and Mercy Flights, a Medford-based medical nonprofit transportation organization, will receive $300,000. 

The remaining $17 million in this round will fund 33 immediate projects, including ones that aim to expand mobile dental healthcare along Oregon’s North Coast, improve access to meals for older adults in Oregon’s remote communities and grow mobile prenatal and postpartum services across the Rogue Valley, Central Oregon and Eastern Oregon. 

“These awards support practical, community-driven efforts to improve access to health in rural Oregon,” said Oregon Health Authority Director Dr. Sejal Hathi. “Rural communities know their needs best, and this funding is intended to help them strengthen local services, expand workforce capacity, and address barriers that make it harder for people to get care close to home.”

State officials acknowledged that the program was packed in the same law that slashed an estimated $15 billion in federal funding for Oregon programs that provide health insurance and food assistance. 

“While the total funding Oregon is receiving through the Rural Health Transformation Program is relatively small when you consider the full impact of recent federal Medicaid cuts, these awards can make a huge difference for individual organizations that are doing much-needed work in rural Oregon,” said Clare Pierce-Wrobel, the health authority’s policy and analytics director.