AUSTIN – On Monday Gov. Greg Abbott announced that a package of $51 million in grant funding is going to hospital districts across the state to improve rural access to healthcare.
Tyler County Hospital District is one of the 68 rural hospital districts that have been awarded $750,000 apiece. The overall funding amount of $51 million is part of a federal $281,319,360 first-year award that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) received from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Rural Health Transformation Program.
That funding is earmarked to improve community-based prevention, wellness and nutrition programs.
“Every community in Texas deserves a health system that provides high-quality, accessible care,” Abbott said.
“Texas will ensure our rural families have the resources and state-of-the-art care they need to thrive for generations to come,” he added.
The first round of funding is part of an estimated $1.4 billion in federal funding to be disbursed over the next five years to improve rural healthcare throughout Texas. States awarded money under the program had to get their spending plans approved by the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services prior to being awarded. Texas learned of this award last December.
Texas’s focus for the funding was channeled into six initiatives related to recruiting and retaining healthcare workers in rural areas; providing telehealth options and replacing medical equipment.
Texas’s $1.4 billion pot of money is part of an overall $50 billion in federal money, awarded nationally, through the One Big Beautiful Bill package.
The Rural Texas Strong, a plan approved through HHSC, is 100% federally funded through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which is an initiative spearheaded by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator, said in a news release that the program “is based on one simple idea: your access to quality healthcare shouldn’t depend on your ZIP code.”
Rural Texas Strong’s “Make Rural Texans Healthy Again” speaks to the fact that 80% of the state’s 254 counties are considered as rural areas, where access to quality healthcare can be a challenge to residents.
The initiative supports rural hospital districts’ efforts to improve health outcomes and chronic disease conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and obesity, according to a news release from Abbott’s office.
Stephanie Muth, who serves as HHSC executive commissioner said the program is “committed to ensuring local communities have the resources to invest in solutions that make the greatest impact.”
