CEO Update: Rural is Everywhere
Rural is in fashion now with the release of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund and more and more talks are occurring about what works best for rural, who is the foremost expert by topic, and of course, the money.
For the Colorado Rural Health Center, rural is always in fashion as CRHC is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. CRHC started in 1991 as the nonprofit State Office of Rural Health and Rural Health Association, our mission and vision remain steadfast!
The federally funded State Office of Rural Health (SORH) grant program is what started most State Offices of Rural Health in 1991. The grant program was created to assist states in strengthening rural healthcare delivery systems by maintaining a focal point for rural health within each state. CRHC is proud to serve as your State Office of Rural Health and Rural Health Association and in 2025 CRHC offered nearly 14,000 technical assistance encounters, valuable updates via CRHC’s newsletters and website, county level data and visualizations, advocacy activities, and workforce activities. And one of the key resources CRHC produces is the Snapshot of Rural Health, which we have prioritized to continue to grow yearly. This is a pretty good return on a $200,000 federal grant (SORH grant)!
Last year, CRHC began collaborating with HCPF on the Rural Health Transformation grant (RHTP) opportunity and I have been fortunate enough to be named Chair of the RHTP Advisory Committee. Things are starting to move quickly now that CMS has approved Colorado’s contract. Several webinars have taken place including what is allowable vs non-allowable for the grant, prepping for the RHTP grant application and more. On HCPF’s RHTP website you’ll find grant information such as an activities overview, eligibility, CMS funding restrictions, budget narrative, project narrative and access to the materials and recordings from the RHTP Advisory Committee and newsletters. Colorado’s application is expected to be released on June 15th and we are encouraging eligible rural facilities to think about their applications now. For more information please visit HCPF’s RHTP site here. https://hcpf.colorado.gov/rural-health-transformation-program
I will also note that CRHC has built and maintains a website dedicated to the rapidly changing Federal rural healthcare landscape. We aim to keep you informed about the President’s budget, RHTP, and more: https://coruralhealth.org/federalupdates
If you are interested in what’s happening nationally on RHTP please visit NRHA’s website here https://www.ruralhealth.us/
