The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is sending $93.3 million to Georgia through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program to expand telehealth services, advance surgical robotics and modernize rural healthcare access statewide.
The funding, according to an Aug. 27 news release, will help 87 rural hospitals prepare for CMS’ AHEAD Model, a value-based care initiative, while expanding training and recruitment for nurses, EMTs and paramedics. It will also support telehealth infrastructure, surgical robotics, dementia care capacity, rural hospital cybersecurity, and access to maternal and behavioral health services, newborn screening and transportation.
With this award, Georgia has committed the full $218 million allocated to the state for its first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program funding, completing the state’s initial award cycle.
Gov. Brian Kemp credited the Trump administration, CMS and the Georgia Department of Community Health for the first-year results, saying the funding is “going toward innovating and improving our healthcare system, with more awards to come.”
The Georgia award is part of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program that Congress established under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. CMS is distributing the program’s funds to all 50 states through 2030 to strengthen rural hospital infrastructure, workforce and technology-enabled care.
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