MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Monday 138 grants totaling more than $144 million from the federally-funded Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program.
The money will support projects in rural areas of all of Alabama’s 67 counties to improve workforce development, mental health resources, electronic health records, technology and cybersecurity efforts.
The grants announced Monday are the first disbursement of the $203 million Alabama received in December from the federal government to strengthen its rural healthcare system.
The federal Rural Health Transformation Program was created by President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill in 2025. The $50 billion fund, which will last five years, is intended to offset the deep Medicaid cuts made in the legislation.
Out of the 50 states, Alabama’s 2026 allocated amount ranked 24th in the country at $203.4 million.
Representatives from several Alabama agencies, including the Governor’s Office, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the Alabama Department of Finance, the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency developed the ARHTP plan to disperse the federal funding. The plan consists of 11 initiatives, five of which were funded by Monday’s grants.
The 138 grants tackle elements of the plan’s Rural Health, Rural Workforce, Mental Health, Rural Health Practice and Collaborative Electronic Health Record and IT and Cybersecurity initiatives. The funding comes directly from the RHTP, which is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Gov. Kay Ivey applauded the grants in a press release, lauding them as an important step in improving Alabama’s rural healthcare landscape.
“Alabama is serious about creating systematic changes through the ARHTP to ensure every citizen has access to quality care. This program is enabling institutions covering every part of the state to improve healthcare for Alabamians through projects that are both innovative and sustainable,” Ivey said. “From the federal policymakers and state administrators to our professional healthcare leaders, I commend all the thoughtful work dedicated to ensuring the success of this program.”
Alabama’s federal delegation said the grants will help to make much-needed upgrades to healthcare in rural areas, with Republican members thanking Trump for championing the effort.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also thanked Trump, saying that putting resources directly into rural communities strengthens the health workforce, modernizes infrastructure and brings care closer to home.
“We are giving states the flexibility to build solutions around the people they serve, while demanding accountability for results,” Kennedy said. “That is how we strengthen rural health, improve the lives of patients and families, and Make America Healthy Again.”
A full list of grant locations and amounts can be found here. More grants are in process and will be announced later this year.