MEDIA RELEASE__On October 15, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today announced that Ohio will receive more than $200 million from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Rural Health Transformation Program to strengthen health care across Ohio's rural communities. 

According to the Ohio Department of Health's (ODH) Ohio Chronic Disease Atlas 2025, Ohioans living in rural parts of the state experience higher rates of chronic disease, lower access to specialty care, and worse health outcomes. Frequently, Ohioans living in rural communities live far from care, making preventative and early intervention services difficult to access.

Ohio's Rural Health Transformation Program proposal focuses on addressing these barriers by building on existing state investments to expand access to care in rural communities, strengthen the rural health workforce, modernize rural facilities and technology, and support innovative models that bring high-quality, dependable care closer to home.

With this funding, Ohio will invest in more school-based health centers in rural communities, expand the OhioSEE child vision care program to more students in rural school districts, and build upon Ohio's success in reducing infant mortality rates by expanding evidence-based home visiting models to more rural communities across the state.

Ohio's plan also includes support for two programs to boost workforce and innovation. Ohio will build out the Rural Healthcare Workforce Pipeline by creating partnerships between healthcare providers and educational institutions to encourage Ohio providers to recruit Ohio medical and health care students to find long-term employment in Ohio's rural communities.

Additionally, Ohio will launch Rural Patient Health Innovation Hubs to provide those living in rural areas with access to the best-in-class, integrated care in their communities by partnering with hospitals, community health centers, behavioral health specialists, and others to bring high-quality health care options closer to home.