Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration have submitted the state’s application for funding through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, aimed at improving healthcare access and outcomes in rural areas.
The proposal outlines four major initiatives: Healthy Eating, Active Recreation, and Transformation (HEART), which promotes nutrition, physical activity, and chronic disease management; Promoting Access Coordination and Transformation (PACT), which integrates specialty care, screenings, telehealth, and trauma-ready services in rural communities; Recruitment Innovation Skills and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR), designed to strengthen the healthcare workforce through training, residencies, and recruitment incentives; and Telehealth Health Monitoring and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE), which would expand telehealth capacity and modernize emergency medical transport systems.
“Improving the health and well-being of all Arkansans is a top priority for my administration,” Sanders said in a statement. “This funding will not only help us increase access to care but also reduce inefficiencies throughout the healthcare system, ultimately benefiting Arkansans in smaller communities across the state.”
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will determine Arkansas’s funding allocation by Dec. 31.
DFA Secretary Jim Hudson praised the collaboration among state agencies, including the Arkansas Department of Health, Department of Human Services, the State Crime Lab, and the Office of the Surgeon General, in preparing the application.
“With a focus on education, prevention, and access to care, this program will change the health of generations of Arkansans,” Hudson said.
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