Governor Ivey Announces Additional Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program Grants Totaling Nearly $55 Million
MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday announced the awarding of 34 grants totaling nearly $55 million to healthcare providers and institutions throughout the state as part of the second round of Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP) funding for 2026. The grants will support projects covering rural areas across Alabama to improve healthcare access, quality and outcomes.
“Every Alabamian deserves access to quality care, and through the Rural Health Transformation Program, we are helping many providers and institutions improve healthcare for Alabamians throughout the state,” said Governor Ivey. “I commend all the thoughtful efforts, from the federal policymakers and state administrators to our professional healthcare leaders, who are working hard to ensure the long-term success of this program. Once again, the Trump Administration is delivering meaningful results for real Americans.”
“The Trump Administration’s Rural Health Transformation Program is helping states like Alabama develop innovative, locally driven solutions to improve rural Americans’ access to high-quality care,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Today’s grant awards demonstrate how this historic investment is empowering rural communities to strengthen their health systems, put patients first, and bring better care closer to home.”
The ARHTP plan was developed by a team that included members from the Governor’s Office, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), the Alabama Department of Finance, the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency. ADECA administers ARHTP.
The second round of grant funding was awarded in five initiatives: Cancer Digital Regionalization, Statewide EMS Trauma and Stroke, EMS Treat in Place, Maternal and Fetal Health, as well as Simulation Training. Available funding was also awarded for additional projects in the Rural Health and Rural Workforce initiatives. The grants announced today round out year one of funding for the program.
During the first round of grant funding, which was announced in late August, projects in the Rural Health, Rural Workforce, Mental Health, Rural Health Practice and Collaborative Electronic Health Record (EHR), IT as well as Cybersecurity initiatives were awarded more than $144 million through 138 grants.
These projects are supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $203,404,326.54 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
“The goal of improving rural healthcare in Alabama is of utmost importance, and we are grateful to Governor Ivey and the Legislature for their confidence in ADECA to administer this program,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell. “The projects announced today as well as those announced earlier hold great potential for improving healthcare in a wide range of areas, and we look forward to seeing the progress as these projects move forward.”
Below are the healthcare providers and institutions receiving grants for projects under each of the initiatives being funded, with grant amounts and the counties served:
Maternal and Fetal Health Initiative
The University of Alabama at Birmingham – $1 million to improve the ability of rural hospitals, emergency departments and emergency medical service providers to recognize, stabilize and manage obstetric and neonatal emergencies. This project will equip at least 20 rural hospitals with emergency readiness labor and delivery carts and simulation resources while providing training (Statewide).
Triad of Alabama LLC DBA Flowers Hospital – $1.45 million to establish a regional maternal-fetal medicine telehealth hub and connect Medical Center Enterprise to specialty services through telerobotic ultrasound serving eight counties (Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Pike).
The East Alabama Health Care Authority – $1.23 million to establish three community-based maternal health access points and connect them to East Alabama Health specialty and referral services in three counties (Barbour, Bullock, Chambers).
The Russell Hospital Corp. – $140,242 to strengthen maternal and fetal diagnostic and referral capacity by installing an ultrasound system and integrating it with its existing imaging, consultation and transfer infrastructure serving five counties (Clay, Coosa, Elmore, Talladega, Tallapoosa).
University of South Alabama – $1.63 million to establish a connected maternity care network linking its obstetric and maternal-fetal medicine hub in Mobile with rural access locations in southwest Alabama (Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington, Escambia, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Washington).
Infirmary Health System Inc. – $1.79 million to establish a regional maternal-fetal-medicine referral hub connected with Jackson Medical Center and Washington County Hospital allowing high-risk pregnant patients to receive specialist-supported care closer to home in five counties (Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Monroe, Washington).
EMS Trauma and Stroke Initiative
The University of Alabama at Birmingham – $3.44 million to strengthen and expand Alabama’s statewide emergency care coordination system for trauma, stroke, cardiac and other time-sensitive conditions in partnership with Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System and its Alabama Trauma Communications Center (Statewide).
Greene County Health System – $308,694 to establish a rural emergency care coordination network to strengthen how patients with suspected stroke, major trauma and other time-sensitive emergencies in 14 counties are identified, stabilized, referred and transferred to the appropriate level of care (Bibb, Choctaw, Dallas, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Marengo, Marion, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Wilcox).
The University of Alabama at Birmingham – $452,716 to implement a rural stroke transfer coordination pilot to help patients with severe strokes move more quickly from participating rural hospitals to advanced stroke centers when higher-level treatment is required in three counties (Blount, Chilton, St. Clair).
EMS Treat-in-Place Initiative
The University of Alabama – $1.76 million to establish rural Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place infrastructure across Alabama by providing participating agencies with portable telemedicine equipment, connectivity, training, clinical protocols, documentation tools, referral workflows and quality monitoring to support safe care without unnecessary transport to emergency departments in 13 counties (Bibb, Choctaw, Dallas, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Marengo, Marion, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Wilcox).
The project will also establish a physician-consultation demonstration in Lamar, Perry and Pickens counties, connecting emergency medical services personnel with physicians during eligible field encounters to guide treatment, referrals, follow-up care and transport decisions.
The Health Care Authority of the City of Huntsville – $450,000 to establish a rural Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place program using two 911-dispatched rapid response vehicles staffed by six Critical Care Paramedics to provide faster field assessment and care in three counties (Lawrence, Marion, Winston).
Greene County Health System – $750,000 to establish an Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place program that allows trained emergency medical personnel to assess and treat eligible patients under approved protocols and medical oversight (Greene County).
Advantage Emergency Medical Services LLC – $285,675 to establish a physician-directed Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place program that allows trained paramedics to assess patients and connect them with an emergency physician through real-time telehealth consultation when transport may not be necessary (Etowah County).
Haynes Ambulance of Alabama Inc. – $1.4 million to establish a physician-directed regional Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place program that allows specially trained paramedics to assess and treat qualifying patients at their location when transport is not necessary in seven counties (Bullock, Covington, Crenshaw, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, Pike).
Regional Paramedical Services – $153,525 to implement an Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place by deploying three non-transport response vehicles that allow paramedics to respond to qualifying patients without taking a transport-capable ambulance out of service in seven counties (Chilton, Jefferson, Marion, Shelby, St. Clair, Walker, Winston).
Piedmont Emergency Rescue Squad Inc. – $381,220 to establish a telehealth-enabled Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place program that allows trained paramedics to assess and treat qualifying patients at their location with real-time physician support when transport to a hospital is not necessary in three counties (Calhoun, Cherokee, Etowah).
Oneonta Fire and Rescue Service – $128,477 to implement an Emergency Medical Services Treat-in-Place model to help eligible patients with non-life-threatening conditions receive care on scene under medical oversight and to improve coordination when transport is needed (Blount County).
Simulation Training Initiative
Cahaba Medical Care Foundation – $125,055 to expand mobile, hands-on training programs for rural healthcare workers and emergency medical personnel in three counties. The training will cover childbirth emergencies, newborn resuscitation, advanced Cesarean delivery skills, bone and joint emergencies, airway management, access to blood vessels for emergency treatment and coordinated response (Bibb, Perry, Wilcox).
QHG of Enterprise Inc. – $70,000 to upgrade clinical training equipment to provide hospital employees with hands-on instruction for practicing heart and lung assessments, premature newborn resuscitation, childbirth emergencies, facility-wide emergency response and infant lifesaving resuscitation in six counties (Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Pike).
Greene County Health System – $575,000 to establish a permanent regional training center for healthcare workers serving west Alabama and the Black Belt by purchasing realistic adult, maternal, newborn and pediatric patient simulators, procedure-training equipment, portable resources and technology for recording and reviewing training exercises (Greene County).
The Children’s Hospital of Alabama – $288,542 to expand its pediatric emergency training program for rural hospitals, emergency medical services, outpatient clinics and school health personnel (Statewide).
Cancer Digital Regionalization Initiative
St. Vincent’s Chilton LLC DBA UAB St. Vincent’s Chilton – $618,000 to implement the Rural Prostate Cancer Digital Regionalization Project by deploying a mobile prostate cancer screening program in eight counties (Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Perry, Wilcox).
Cahaba Medical Care Foundation – $266,486 to implement Project LOOP to expand cervical cancer detection, diagnostic follow-up and treatment capacity for women in four counties (Bibb, Chilton, Perry, Wilcox).
Greene County Health System – $2.28 million to establish the Black Warrior Rural Cancer Detection, Navigation and Early Diagnosis Network to improve access to cancer screening, early diagnosis, navigation and timely follow-up in five counties (Greene, Hale, Marengo, Pickens, Sumter).
Franklin Primary Health Center Inc. – $534,937 to expand the deployment and clinical use of its existing mobile cancer screening unit to improve access to early-detection services in five counties (Baldwin, Choctaw, Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe).
RCHP-Florence LLC DBA North Alabama Shoals Hospital – $683,500 to expand early-stage lung cancer detection and diagnostic services to improve timely access to care in five counties (Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Winston).
Infirmary Health System Inc. – $1.37 million to establish the Southwest Alabama Breast Cancer Detection Network to expand access to breast cancer screening, early detection, diagnostic follow-up and coordinated specialty care in seven counties (Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe, Washington).
Sylacauga Healthcare Authority DBA Coosa Valley Medical Center– $1.89 million to replace limited mobile scanning services with a permanent PET/CT scanner and hire a nurse navigator to help patients schedule cancer testing, understand their results and connect with follow-up care in five counties (Clay, Coosa, Shelby, Talladega, Tallapoosa).
University of South Alabama – $164,450 to expand cervical cancer prevention and screening by deploying mobile teams in seven counties (Baldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington).
Rural Health Initiative
Cahaba Medical Care Foundation – $161,580 to implement a unified digital patient intake and engagement platform to allow patients to electronically complete intake forms, screenings, scheduling, appointment reminders and payments in four counties (Bibb, Chilton, Perry, Wilcox).
Andalusia Health – $305,428 to replace two outdated portable X-ray machines with modern units that produce high-resolution bedside imaging to serve four counties (Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw).
South Central Alabama Mental Health Board Inc. – $840,000 to establish a coordinated rural healthcare network connecting primary care, behavioral health, hospitals, emergency medical systems, schools, public agencies and community organizations in four counties (Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw).
Rural Workforce Initiative
The Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences – $7.27 million to support the statewide residential high school in Demopolis that will prepare students from rural communities for healthcare careers. Funding will also support transportation to clinical placements and partnerships with healthcare providers and educational institutions (Statewide).
Alabama Community College System – $20.6 million to establish an integrated, statewide rural healthcare workforce pipeline through Alabama’s community colleges. The system will expand rural healthcare training capacity at Alabama’s community college, enabling students to earn healthcare job credentials without relocating. The project will establish remote emergency medical technician (EMT) and advanced EMT tracks. It also will expand allied health training through a centralized pipeline using shared curriculum, procurement and support across rural community colleges in respiratory therapy, surgical technology, radiologic technology, medical lab technology and medication technician program. It will increase nursing capacity through additional faculty, simulation resources, instructional sites and new paths to nursing education. The program also will establish a structured rural pipeline to advanced nursing careers, including nurse practitioner, physician assistant and certified nurse midwife (Statewide).
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