KDHE announces Year‑1 RHTP awards: $222M initial allocation with grants for recap, regional partnerships and AFIM/CHW programs

Matt Lauer, chief of staff and director of the Rural Health Transformation Program at KDHE, briefed the committee on Kansas' Year‑1 awards under the federal RHTP grant. "The application was awarded roughly $222,000,000 for year 1," Lauer said, and noted Kansas reached CMS checkpoint goals that support future funding eligibility.

Lauer outlined four major Year‑1 grant tracks: RECAP (rural emergency hospital conversion and transformative capital investments), Regional Partnership grants to build collaborative regional infrastructure, Accountable Food as Medicine (AFIM) and community health worker deployment awards, and an emerging technology program. KDHE awarded 18 RECAP grants (~$31M), 22 Regional Partnership grants (~$50M), and seven AFIM/CHW awards; examples included investments in rural MRI capability, telemedicine networks, mobile mental health clinics, pediatric rural networks and workforce training for specialized populations.

Lauer said selection criteria required sustainability plans and that Year‑1 awards were scaled up in some programs in response to high‑quality applications. He said emerging technology awardees will be announced in the coming weeks and that KDHE will continue monitoring performance to inform Year‑2 allocations beginning Oct. 31.