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State health officials outline $206–207 million initial award under federal rural health transformation program
Summary
Department of Health officials told the Finance committee the state applied for $200 million and received roughly $206.8–206.9 million for the first budget period, proposing competitive, outcome‑focused grants across access, maternal health, tech infrastructure, prevention and workforce.
State health officials briefed the Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 17 on a federal rural health transformation grant the department says could represent a $1 billion opportunity across five years, with Tennessee receiving roughly $206.8–206.9 million for the first budget period.
"Tennessee requested $200,000,000 from CMS to launch the 5 year plan in year 1. We received $206.9 million in the award," Deputy Commissioner J.W. Randolph told the committee while outlining five focus areas: competitive service expansion and co‑location grants, maternal and child health and value‑based payments, technology infrastructure (including a health information exchange), community health and prevention investments and workforce development. Randolph said awards will be competitively scored and must demonstrate sustainability beyond the federal term.
Commissioner John Dunn framed the request as an opportunity to "improve rural health for Tennesseans" and said the department is seeking committee approval to spend the federal award. Officials described examples of proposed investments that include last‑mile EMS teams, expanded perinatal training, a memory‑care assessment network and nearly $100 million targeted at optimizing rural clinical capacity and safety‑net services.
