Alaska issues intent to award $30 million to 37 rural health projects

The Alaska Department of Health issued notices of intent Friday to award more than $30 million to 37 rural health projects across the state, a week after its first round of awards. Final amounts remain subject to budget review and a signed grant agreement, so the money is not yet guaranteed to reach recipients.

The 37 projects go to 28 organizations. The largest single award is about $5 million to Norton Sound Health Corporation, in the Nome Census Area, to replace end-of-life computers and servers. Chugachmiut received about $2 million, Southcentral Foundation about $1.5 million and Maniilaq Association about $1.2 million.

Nine of the 37 are classed as state agency projects and account for about $12.2 million, roughly 40% of the round. The Department of Corrections received about $4.1 million across two projects and the Office of Children's Services about $5 million across two more. Both are listed with statewide service areas.

A first notice on Aug. 7 covered more than $4.5 million for 19 projects, including a $650,200 preliminary award to the Alaska Primary Care Association to implement a Medicare Shared Savings Program at four rural Federally Qualified Health Centers, clinics that receive federal funding to serve patients regardless of ability to pay. That first round also funded Alaska Behavioral Health's Seeds of Change expansion, at $593,100, and Alaska Impact Alliance's 907 Navigation platform, at $178,600.

Alaska received the award in December 2025 as part of a five-year, $50 billion national program created by H.R. 1. The money comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Together, the two rounds account for roughly $35 million of Alaska's first-year award of $272.2 million, about 13%, leaving some $237 million of the first year still unannounced.

The department has said decisions move forward as it resolves outstanding questions with applicants and CMS. At a July advisory council meeting, program manager Betsy Wood said "organizations should plan to complete their project activities and expend their awarded funds by June 30th, 2027." The department said additional award notices will continue weekly on Fridays.

A full list of selected projects is posted on the department's website. Descriptions of what each project will do come from the organizations that applied: in publishing the applications, the department noted that project descriptions "reflect the applicant's own language and have not been edited by DOH."