 – Governor Mike Braun has made closing the rural health care gap a major affordability priority with a big win for Hoosiers. Indiana has been awarded nearly…){kind=link}
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (NWPR) – Governor Mike Braun has made closing the rural health care gap a major affordability priority with a big win for Hoosiers. Indiana has been awarded nearly $209 million for the second year, which will run through October 30, 2027, of the five-year federal Rural Health Transformation Program. The funding will continue the work of the Indiana Department of Health and Family and Social Services Administration to improve health outcomes and access to care in Indiana’s rural communities.
“As Governor, I’ve taken decisive action to make health care in Indiana more transparent, accessible, and affordable. Hoosiers in rural areas face gaps in access to health care, and the Rural Health Transformation Program will help close those gaps by creating more care options. This program has now contributed over $400 million in closing the rural health care gap, and will continue expanding access to care, giving rural Hoosiers more options closer to home and helping make health care more affordable.”
In the first year of the program, Indiana received nearly $207 million, with 100% obligated with more than 250 grants totaling 92% of the funding going to local organizations. Community partners are at the forefront of RHTP in Indiana because they understand their unique challenges and the best ways to address them.
RHTP promotes innovation and efficiency, strategic partnerships, infrastructure development and workforce investment to provide services when and where Hoosiers need them and help avoid costly duplication. Priorities for the second year of funding include:
- Right care: Coordinated around each person, with patients and families in the driver’s seat with support from resources such as Indiana 211, community health workers, mental and behavioral health, peer support specialists, coordinated medical services and connected technology
- Right place: Care closer to home, so distance is never the reason a Hoosier goes without care. This includes telehealth/teleconsult, mobile integrated health, remote patient monitoring, new primary care access points, transportation and an expanded health workforce
- Right time: Innovating to help Hoosiers take charge of their own health through programs such as SmartSNAP, Food is Medicine, obstetric and pediatric readiness, cardiovascular-kidney metabolic centers and lifestyle medicine
By combining statewide strategies with the understanding of local priorities through Growing Rural Opportunities in Well-being (GROW) grants, Indiana will continue to build and develop a rural healthcare system that is community-driven and prepared to meet the evolving needs of Hoosiers. More at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ssLhuwkgLI