Arkansas announces $54.6 million in rural health grants

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has announced $54.6 million in awards for the second round of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). This funding, established through the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, is divided between the Healthy Eating, Active Recreation & Transformation (HEART) initiative, which receives $27.4 million for 30 projects, and the Recruitment, Innovation Skills, and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR) initiative, which receives $27.2 million for 24 projects.

This round completes the $208 million distribution for Arkansas this year. Officials anticipate the state will receive approximately $1 billion in RHTP funding over the next five years to support rural hospitals, community health centers, and education systems across all 75 counties.

Critics note that these announcements reflect the sub-awarding of funds previously allocated a year ago rather than new funding. They argue the RHTP is a component of the broader One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and suggest that the program's impact is limited compared to the legislation's overall fiscal effects on rural communities.