This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
State leaders have submitted Wyoming’s application for a slice of the $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program. It’s part of the Republican-backed spending bill signed into law this July.
Gov. Mark Gordon said in a press release the application reflects healthcare priorities heard at 11 town halls and 1,300 online survey responses gathered from around the state this fall.
The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) lists the application’s four key initiatives as follows:
- Improving access to basic medical care. By getting the state’s rural hospitals and EMS systems in Wyoming to focus on the basics and consolidating them around stable funding, Wyoming can improve their sustainability for rural communities. One of Wyoming’s main goals is to improve access to maternity care so mothers can deliver babies safely and closer to home.
- Building up our health workforce. Wyoming’s proposal will expand educational opportunities for nurses, paramedics, and other health workers, with the goal of laying out clear career pathways so people starting in entry-level jobs can see a real future for themselves in the state.
- Improving people’s health. By improving people’s diets and promoting exercise and physical activity, Wyoming hopes to make a dent in diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
- Using technology to improve chronic disease management and bring care closer to home. By giving health providers the right tools and the right incentives, Wyoming can improve how medical care is delivered to rural residents.
“Our application reflects a clear vision for Wyoming’s healthcare future,” Gordon said. “Just as we have done with other transitory federal programs, we recognize this money is not forever and it is taxpayer money. So the investments we make must stand the test of time and not further burden our grandchildren. Rural states like Wyoming need the tools to build solutions that work here at home. These funds will help us transform care for Wyoming families and keep critical services local, where they belong.”
WDH said the public’s top five priorities included:
- Improve the financial viability of small, rural hospitals to provide basic services to their communities.
- Expand affordable health insurance options.
- Recruit and retain primary care physicians, in order to improve access and build longer relationships with patients.
- Train and recruit more nurses and related direct care workforce (e.g. nursing assistants) in order to improve staffing at hospitals and long-term care facilities.
- Strengthen obstetric/gynecological, labor/delivery, and related services so women can deliver babies safely.
The Rural Health Transformation Program appropriates $50 billion from 2026 to 2030 to help rural hospitals. Half of the funds will be divvied up evenly among states that submit an application, and the other half will be awarded competitively to states that outline a “detailed rural health transformation plan” and are approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator.
Funds could go out as early as Dec. 31. The funds will be distributed annually for five years.
