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Caroline County Health Department wins $1.3 million in rural-health funding to expand mobile integrated health
Summary
The county health department said it was awarded rural health transformation funding (about $1.3 million in year one) to expand its Mobile Integrated Health program from one day a week to full-time, add a housed paramedic, pilot nonemergency medical transportation and pursue aging-population and community-health needs assessments.
Caroline County’s Health Department reported on July 21 that it received rural health transformation funding that will support a large expansion of its Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) services.
Robin Cahall, county health officer, explained that MIH — launched in December 2025 to serve residents with high 911 utilization — had 99 qualifying clients, of whom 37 accepted services. Lead community health nurse Jenna Amador said the program achieved an 85% reduction in 911 calls among enrolled participants and recorded a 100% client satisfaction rate in internal measures.
Cahall said the rural health transformation award includes roughly $1.3 million for mobile health services in the first year, with additional funding possible in subsequent years if performance measures are met. The grant will allow MIH to operate full-time, house a paramedic at the health department to work with the MIH lead nurse, pilot expanded nonemergency medical transportation (including QMB-area coverage), develop an aging-population initiative and conduct a Caroline County–specific community health needs assessment.
Commissioners and staff discussed the program’s cost savings for EMS and the potential to bill for services: one EMS speaker estimated a roughly $150,000 savings to EMS from reduced transports among the program population, and department staff said Medicaid is beginning to reimburse MIH services. Cahall urged attention to billing and sustainability strategies and said the department will work with EMS and community partners to expand telehealth, intermediate care and transportation options.
The funding will require meeting performance measures and developing a sustainability plan over the five-year possible grant period, Cahall said. The department also plans to formalize a subrecipient agreement with Caroline County DES to manage funding and operations tied to the award.
Next steps include implementing full-time MIH staffing, launching the intermediate-care track staffed by a nurse practitioner to bridge patients to primary care, and coordinating with partners on transportation and Produce RX planning.
