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State of Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee

Governor McKee Leads Effort to Transform Rural Health Care with Federal Funding Application

Published on Thursday, November 13, 2025

PROVIDENCE, RI – Governor Dan McKee today announced that Rhode Island has formally submitted its application to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for funding under the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). This federal program was designed to strengthen and modernize health care in rural communities. 

Built on extensive community feedback, the Governor’s application outlines a comprehensive, strategic framework that advances his RI 2030 Plan’s goal to expand access to high-quality, low-cost care and address the unique health challenges facing Rhode Island’s 18 rural communities: Burrillville, North Smithfield, Foster, Glocester, Scituate, and Smithfield in Providence County; East Greenwich and West Greenwich in Kent County; Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, New Shoreham, Richmond, and Westerly in Washington County; and Jamestown, Little Compton, Portsmouth, and Tiverton in Newport County. 

“My Administration’s proposal represents a transformational step toward a health system that expands access through mobile health, hospital-at-home, and community learning centers; strengthens behavioral health and recovery services; builds a strong local health workforce; and invests in digital infrastructure to ensure every Rhode Islander can receive quality, affordable care close to home,” said Governor McKee. “As a former mayor and the Governor of a small state, I understand the importance of programs like this in strengthening care within local, trusted settings where residents turn first for help.”

To strengthen health care access across Rhode Island’s rural communities, the proposal includes several key strategies:

  • Building Integrated Community Care: Integrated, community-based care models to improve chronic disease management, preventive care, and behavioral health services through local providers, community learning centers, and other trusted rural community institutions.
  • Expanding Access to Care Through Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs): Improving access to primary care, behavioral health, and dental services for rural residents through FQHCs serving as clinical anchors.
  • Investing in Mobile Health and EMS: Mobile health services, a statewide tele-dentistry triage system, and major EMS modernization investments to expand access to coordinated, affordable care in rural communities.
  • Supporting Local Health Systems: Investments designed to meet the distinct health needs of Block Island and the Narragansett Indian Tribe, strengthening local care systems and ensuring services reflect each community’s priorities and culture.
  • Combating the Opioid Crisis and Expanding Behavioral Health: Strengthen behavioral health capacity by launching crisis stabilization facilities and recovery centers so residents in small and remote communities hit hard by the opioid epidemic can receive 24/7 community-based support closer to home.
  • Growing the Health Workforce: Workforce development, including new clinical training placements, mentorships, and education-to-employment pathways in high-demand health care fields to better serve rural patients.
  • Delivering Hospital Care at Home: Expanding Hospital at Home programs that allow patients across the state, especially those in rural communities, to safely receive hospital-level care in their own homes—improving outcomes, lowering costs, and keeping families together during recovery.
  • Advancing Value-Based Care: Investments in value-based payment models that reward quality and outcomes rather than volume of services, helping primary care practices, community health centers, hospitals, and local providers deliver more coordinated and preventive care - particularly targeting patients across rural towns.
  • Modernizing Health IT: Health IT modernization grants to give providers the digital tools needed to expand telehealth, improve data connectivity, leverage AI for care coordination, and participate in value-based care programs to better serve residents across Rhode Island’s 18 rural towns. 

The application was developed through a coordinated effort within the McKee Administration led by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) in partnership with the Department of Health (RIDOH)’s Office of Primary Care and Rural Health and multiple state agencies, with engagement from hospitals, primary care providers, behavioral health agencies, municipal leaders, and the Narragansett Indian Tribe. The process also incorporated extensive public input through a statewide rural health survey, which captured the experiences and priorities of rural residents and providers, along with a series of community listening sessions held across northern and southern Rhode Island and on Block Island.  

“The Rural Health Transformation Program gives Rhode Island the opportunity to build a stronger, more sustainable health care system,” Governor McKee said. “My Administration is fully committed to working with CMS and our federal partners to make this vision a reality.”

The Governor’s letter to CMS can be found here. The application program narrative can be found here.

The application included letters of support from the Block Island Health Center, Care Transformation Collaborative RI, the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, Narragansett Indian Health Center, New England Rural Health Association, the Rhode Island Health Center Association, the Rhode Island Medical Society, RI Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Mental Health Association of RI, RI Dental Association, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the League of Cities and Towns.

“The Rural Health Transformation Grant presents a unique opportunity to build innovative initiatives through partnerships that can improve access to quality healthcare for our rural communities for generations to come,” said Richard Charest, Secretary of the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services. “Thank you to the hundreds of providers and community partners who offered detailed feedback and ideas throughout the development of this grant application.”

About RHTP:

For the RHTP competitive grant, each state was required to apply for an award of $1 billion, with the understanding that funding would not be awarded evenly across states.  Rather, it would be awarded through a CMS formula based on each state’s unique situation and rural characteristics—such as population size and health care access indicators.  States retain the discretion to scale or phase their proposals based on the final award amount while maintaining alignment with the program’s core objectives and outcomes.

The funds will be distributed to states with approved transformation plans through two separate allocations:

  • The first $25 billion will be divided evenly among all participating states with CMS-approved plans. Based on this structure, Rhode Island’s estimated share would be approximately $100 million per year for five years. 
  • The remaining $25 billion will be distributed competitively over the same period based on criteria such as rural population size, the number and condition of rural health facilities, and other state-specific factors identified by CMS.
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