Indiana is investing its federal funding through 12 coordinated statewide and regional initiatives.
At the state level, Indiana has 11 strategic initiatives designed to drive impact across the entire state, representing 40% of the total grant.
To support local growth and tailor solutions to regional needs, Indiana has also introduced the GROW Regional Grants. These grants account for the remaining 60% of the funding and will be implemented across eight regions, ensuring that rural communities throughout Indiana benefit from targeted, high-impact investments.
Informational Webinars
| Webinar | Date | Attachments |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana's Rural Health Transformation Grant Update #2 | June 12, 2026 | Slides |
| Indiana's Rural Health Transformation Grant Update #1 | April 2, 2026 | Slides |
| Statewide Kick-Off Meeting | Jan. 8, 2026 | Slides |
Initiative 1: Growing Care Coordination: Medical Operations Coordination Center (MOCC) and Alternate Payment Model Feasibility Study
A 24/7 statewide hub to coordinate patient transfers, EMS resources and hospital capacity. The MOCC aims to ensure rural communities get timely access to trauma, stroke, psychiatric and maternal care by streamlining referrals, reducing inappropriate ER use, supporting rural hospital sustainability and strengthening preparedness for mass casualty events.
Initiative 2: Growing Community Connections through Indiana 211
Indiana is developing Indiana Community Connect, a coordinated care network designed to help people in rural communities access essential resources more easily. The initiative brings together healthcare providers, community organizations, and Indiana 211 to connect individuals with services such as food assistance, housing support, and behavioral health programs. This work strengthens coordination and follow up in areas where local services are limited, with the goal of improving stability and well-being for rural residents.
Initiative 3: Growing Improved Patient Outcomes Through Enhanced Interoperability and Technology
Modernize Indiana’s health information exchange (HIE) to connect rural healthcare facilities (hospitals, outpatient, long-term care, behavioral health), close data gaps and strengthen care coordination through EMR integration, technology enhancements, AI-driven dashboards and EMS collaboration.
Initiative 4: Growing Pediatric & Obstetric Readiness in Rural Emergency Departments
Strengthening emergency care capacity in rural hospitals and EMS by ensuring readiness for pediatric and obstetric emergencies. Partnering with Indiana Emergency Medical Services for Children (IEMSC) and Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS), the initiative provides needs assessments, training, equipment and technical assistance.
Initiative 5: Growing Cardiometabolic Health Standards of Care in Rural Indiana
Launch a statewide collaborative care model to combat obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease by establishing Cardiometabolic Centers of Excellence in each rural health region. The initiative equips 6,000 rural health professionals with Lifestyle Medicine training, embeds nutrition education in medical schools, and certifies up to 2,000 clinicians to lead preventive care. A feasibility study will also assess logistics for a rural Food is Medicine program, leveraging Hoosier-grown foods and telehealth-based nutrition therapy.
Initiative 6: Growing Access to Hospital Post-Discharge Medications
Ensures patients receive prescribed medications before leaving the hospital, eliminating access and transportation barriers. By charging outpatient prices and providing bedside counseling, the program improves recovery readiness and reduces readmissions.
Initiative 7: Growing Specialty Provider Access through Expanded Teleconsult Capabilities
This initiative assesses existing provider networks and specialty gaps while building a secure teleconsultation system to expand access to high-need specialties such as psychiatry and behavioral health. By addressing barriers like credentialing and payment incentives, and leveraging AI to optimize consultation availability, the initiative strengthens rural healthcare infrastructure. Competitive partnerships will support rollout across communities, ensuring sustainable, scalable access to specialty care.
Initiative 8: Growing Telehealth Access and Infrastructure
Indiana will conduct a statewide feasibility study to assess rural provider networks, infrastructure gaps, and opportunities for remote health monitoring using wearable devices to reduce clinician burnout and improve patient outcomes. Findings will guide the rollout of a unified telehealth system, procured through competitive selection, with solutions designed for rural connectivity and enhanced by AI-driven decision support.
Initiative 9: Growing our Rural Health Paraprofessional Workforce
Grows and retains the rural healthcare, behavioral and oral health paraprofessional workforce by establishing career pipelines and pathways through Rural Healthcare Academies, providing employer technical assistance and support for employee recruitment and retention, and supports Community Health Worker planning and integration in clinical and community care settings.
Initiative 10: Growing Clinical Training and Readiness
Advance rural healthcare access and clinical workforce strength through expanded physician training pathways, increasing clinical rotation capacity, and targeted investments in maternal health.
Initiative 11: Growing our Rural Behavioral Health Workforce
Indiana will grow and retain the rural behavioral health workforce through career pathways, employer support, and expanded training. This initiative will support a university-based career pathway for high school students, offering early exposure and training. To support the current workforce, this initiative provides employer grants to enhance recruitment and retention and strengthen clinical supervision. This initiative also expands Certified Peer Support Professional training and continuing education and provides statewide workshops to equip rural paraprofessionals with critical threat assessment and management skills to improve crisis response and community safety.
Initiative 12: Growing Rural Opportunities for Well-being (GROW) Regional Grants
The GROW (Growing Rural Opportunities for Well-being) initiative brings the federal RHTP program to the state level. Indiana understands that rural communities know their own needs best and are well-positioned to create effective local solutions. The state has a strong track record of helping communities use data to identify their biggest opportunities and leverage local resources and partnerships to address them.
