OHA release - Early success in implementing the Rural Health Transformation Program yields additional, second-year award to help restore local care in remote communities, strengthen emergency medical services, preserve maternal care, more.  SALEM, Ore. – For the second year in a row, Oregon has been awarded about $197.3 million to continue improving rural healthcare through the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced.  This new award comes after first-year RHTP investments brought positive results in key areas established by the Kotek administration. This new funding is in addition to the approximately $197.3 million that Oregon was awarded for the program’s first year.  Oregon is using this federal funding to support proven, community-driven projects that improve rural healthcare access — including maternity care, primary care, and behavioral health. With this funding, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) aims to grow and sustain the healthcare workforce, expand health technology, boost chronic disease management and prevention, and help the Nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon improve access and health outcomes in rural areas.  “Oregon should be proud of all that it has accomplished in the 11 months since the U.S. government first awarded our state Rural Health Transformation Program funding,” said Interim OHA Director Fariborz Pakseresht. “OHA and hundreds of organizations urgently rallied together to tackle projects that make it easier for people in rural Oregon to receive the quality healthcare they need and deserve. Additional federal funding will now help Oregon advance these remarkable efforts.”  The federal government awarded Oregon additional funding after evaluating Oregon’s and other states’ progress against their RHTP goals. During the national program’s inaugural year in 2026, Oregon was one of the first states to distribute federal funding to local projects, which enabled the state’s rural health improvement efforts to move forward more quickly.