Alaska issues intent to award $16.8 million to 24 more rural health projects

The Alaska Department of Health issued Notices of Intent to Award $16.8 million to 24 rural health projects on Friday, Aug. 28. The move pushes Year 1 funding under the state's federal Rural Health Transformation Program to nearly $182 million.

The projects span all six program initiatives. Common themes include workforce pipeline development, technology to expand specialty and emergency care, and support for behavioral health, maternal and child health, and complex care. The department did not name the new recipients. Its running online project list includes earlier awards of $593,100 to Alaska Behavioral Health for the Seeds of Change hydroponic therapeutic model and $627,200 to Chugachmiut for portable digital X-ray services at five rural clinics.

The money comes from a first-year award of $272,174,855.72 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The notices are not disbursed funds. Final amounts depend on budget review and execution of a grant agreement.

Demand has outpaced supply. Organizations submitted about $2.5 billion in requests against the $272 million available this cycle, according to prior reporting. The department received nearly 1,800 letters of interest. It invited 403 applicants to submit full implementation applications and preliminarily approved 28 for planning funding. Friday's announcement follows earlier rounds: more than $4.5 million to 19 projects on Aug. 7, $30 million to 37 projects, and nearly $126 million to 105 projects.

Program manager Betsy Wood told the program's advisory council July 1 that organizations "should plan to complete their project activities and expend their awarded funds by June 30th, 2027."

Sen. Forrest Dunbar has said the program's "strict guidelines and accelerated timeframe create significant limitations to fully transform Alaska's healthcare system."

The department and the Alaska Community Foundation, its grant administration partner, are executing agreements for projects already noticed. More announcements are expected in coming weeks.