NJ Awards Inaugural Round of Rural Health Transformation Grants
Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced July 31 the first round of grant awards through New Jersey’s Rural Health Transformation Program (NJRHT), investing $83 million in projects that aim to strengthen health care access and improve health outcomes for residents living in rural communities across the state.
The awards represent the first investments made through New Jersey’s five-year Rural Health Transformation Program, a federally funded initiative designed to improve health-care infrastructure, expand access to care, strengthen the health care workforce, and support prevention and chronic disease management in rural communities.
“These grants will help strengthen hospitals, community health providers, and the health-care workforce that families rely on every day,” said Sherrill. “By investing in innovative, community-driven solutions, we are taking a healthier and more affordable future for New Jersey into our own hands.”
The awards support projects across NJRHT’s five priority areas: Workforce: Recruiting, training, and retaining clinical and non-clinical health care professionals; Infrastructure: Strengthening hospitals, primary care providers, and other essential health care facilities; Technology: Expanding the use of health technology and innovative care delivery models; Prevention: Improving community health through prevention-focused initiatives; and Chronic Disease: Supporting programs that improve the management of chronic health conditions.
While New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation, about one in 10 New Jerseyans live in rural communities. Rural communities are more likely to experience health care workforce shortages, hospital maternity unit closures, higher rates of substance use-related health impacts, and lower rates of annual pediatric well visits.
New Jersey received more than $147 million from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the first year of the five-year Rural Health Transformation Program, which was approved by Congress last year.