The Rural Health Association of Tennessee has received inquiries from rural healthcare providers, media, and policymakers from across the country regarding Tennessee's implementation of the Rural Health Transformation Program.
We applaud the organizations that submitted successful applications and recognize the hard work that goes into securing competitive funding opportunities. At the same time, our preliminary review indicates that fewer than 30% of the notices of award identified to date have been made directly to hospitals and clinics.
Before offering any formal position, RHA plans to conduct member listening sessions and gather feedback from rural healthcare organizations across Tennessee.
In the spirit of transparency, we have published the raw data that reflects our current understanding of funding distributions based on publicly released funding announcements and preliminary notices of award. As additional information becomes available, the data will be updated and eventually incorporated into our Rural Health Dashboard.
Preliminary Data of RHTP Funding as of 9/11/2026
PowerPoint for 9/24/2026 Listening Session
Our Next Steps:
- Continue listening and soliciting feedback from rural healthcare organizations.
- Compile the feedback and present to TDH (10/7/2026), along with:
- Questions from Members (scoring rubric, possibly the project narratives of awardees, etc)
- Recommendations for future funding eligibility criteria
- Recommendations and requests related to accountability and outcomes of funded organziations (espeically the tech grants)
- Recommendations and requests for Stateholder Engagement
- Commissioner Dunn/TDH Presenation
- Commissioner Dunn will be a plenary session speaker on November 19th – National Rural Health Day
- Invitations to grantees to join us at our Annual Conference so they can network with members, etc