# Arkansas — Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP)

Arkansas’s Rural Health Transformation Program is actively implemented, with funding applications open for HEART, RISE, PACT, and THRIVE initiatives. It targets high-need rural populations—including Delta, Ozarks, and southwest regions—and supports hospitals, clinics, FQHCs, and behavioral health organizations. Major focus areas include improving access, population health, telehealth expansion, workforce development, and care coordination, with current awards distributed statewide to numerous health-related projects. Behavioral health services and community partnership networks remain priorities under a structured plan tracking multiple initiatives and strategic goals. Current structured plan tracks 4 key initiatives and 8 strategic goals.

## At a glance

- Federal awards to date: $416,568,306.28 (Year 1 $208.8M + Year 2 $207.8M)
- Implementation phase (RCJ): IMPLEMENTING
- Funding opportunities tracked: 6 (0 open or announced, 6 closed)
- Awards recorded: $205.9M to 57 recipients
- Critical Access Hospitals: 41
- Rural population share: 45%

## Current progress

Year 1 THRIVE, PACT, RISE ARKANSAS, and HEART awards have been made and subrecipient projects are progressing with impact data being collected and shared. Over $54 million has been distributed to dozens of organizations, with county-level outcomes reported. Additional grants, including $3.7 million for new rural residency programs, are advancing workforce capacity, and subrecipient training and compliance support is ongoing. Concrete progress on local implementation, data collection, and operational subrecipient management continues. State opportunities: 4 total (4 past/closed), $149.3M listed funding. Key opportunities: Promoting Access, Coordination, and Transformation (PACT); THRIVE - Telehealth, Health Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (LIFELINE); Healthy Eating, Active Recreation, and Transformation (HEART). Strategy alignment: supports workforce, telehealth, care access priorities.

## CMS published status (State Data Maps)

- State Policy Action commitments: 4 of 19
- Initiatives (4), current CMS stage of each:
  - Healthy Eating, Active Recreation, & Transformation (HEART) — Stage 1
  - Promoting Access, Coordination, and Transformation (PACT) — Stage 1
  - Recruitment, Innovation, Skills, and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR) — Stage 1
  - Telehealth, Health-monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE) — Stage 1
- CMS data captured 2026-11-11, last confirmed 2026-11-11

## Open and announced opportunities

None open right now.

## Closed opportunities (6, most recent first)

- [Healthy Eating, Active Recreation, and Transformation (HEART)](https://www.ruralcarejourney.com/opportunities/healthy-eating-active-recreation-and-transformation-heart--bc71ed667b) — NOFO; Closed; due 2026-08-07
- [Recruitment, Innovation, Skills, & Education for Arkansas (RISE AR)](https://www.ruralcarejourney.com/opportunities/recruitment-innovation-skills-education-for-arkansas-rise-ar--fdb6c53db2) — NOFO; Closed; due 2026-07-24
- [Promoting Access, Coordination, and Transformation (PACT)](https://www.ruralcarejourney.com/opportunities/promoting-access-coordination-and-transformation-pact--d326d5d010) — NOFO; Closed; due 2026-07-10; $93.7M
- [THRIVE - Telehealth, Health Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (LIFELINE)](https://www.ruralcarejourney.com/opportunities/thrive-telehealth-health-monitoring-and-response-innovation-for-vital-expansion--29f50e4f98) — NOFO; Closed; due 2026-06-12; $1.2M – $55.6M
- [Arkansas Federal RHTP Award: Year 1 (FY 2026)](https://www.ruralcarejourney.com/opportunities/arkansas-federal-rhtp-award-year-1-fy-2026--5ffa63402c) — AWARD; Closed; due 2025-10-31; $208.8M
- [Arkansas Federal RHTP Award: Year 2 (FY 2027)](https://www.ruralcarejourney.com/opportunities/arkansas-federal-rhtp-award-year-2-fy-2027--2801175d3b) — AWARD; Closed; $207.8M

## Largest recorded awards

- Arkansas Rural Health Partnership — $20.9M (FY2026)
- Baxter Health — $19.7M (FY2026)
- St. Bernards Development Foundation — $19.4M (FY2026)
- Mercy Health Fort Smith Communities — $19.1M (FY2026)
- Baptist Health — $17.3M (FY2026)
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences — $17.1M (FY2026)
- Mississippi County Hospital System — $14.0M (FY2026)
- Arkansas Ambulance Association — $10.0M (FY2026)
- Heartland Whole Health — $8.4M (FY2026)
- New York Insitute of Technology — $5.3M (FY2026)
- White River Health System, Inc. — $5.1M (FY2026)
- North Arkansas Regional Medical Center — $4.6M (FY2026)
- Jefferson Hospital Association — $4.0M (FY2026)
- River Valley Wellness — $3.5M (FY2026)
- New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University — $3.0M (FY2025)

## Official sources RCJ monitors

- [AR RHTP Primary](https://governor.arkansas.gov/arkansas-rural-health-transformation-program-application/)
- [AR RHTP Program](https://arkansasrhtp.com)
- [AR DHS News Feed](https://humanservices.arkansas.gov/news-feed/)
- [AR Release / Application 1](https://governor.arkansas.gov/news_post/arkansas-awarded-209-million-for-fy26-through-president-trumps-rural-health-transformation-program)

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Source: Rural Care Journey (RCJ), https://www.ruralcarejourney.com/states/ar — data as of 2026-11-12.
Cite the RCJ page for the summary and the linked official source for authoritative terms, deadlines, and amounts.