A $20 Million-a-Year Fund Aims to Modernize Rural Health Care

For a small clinic in a rural county, trying out new technology can be a gamble. A new state program is designed to take some of the risk out of it.

On Wednesday, Governor Josh Stein, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Information Technology launched the Rural Health Innovation Fund, which will distribute roughly $20 million a year for up to five years. The money comes from North Carolina's share of the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, run through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The state was awarded more than $213 million for the first year in December 2025, and it will be eligible for more funding in each year of the five-year program.

Who Can Apply

In the first year, eligible applicants include primary care providers, federally qualified health centers, community health centers and safety-net providers that meet certain federal requirements. Applicants must show how they serve rural residents, even if their county is not officially designated rural.

Eligible projects include telehealth expansion, AI-enabled clinical decision support, electronic health record upgrades and cybersecurity improvements, along with other scalable and sustainable efforts that improve care quality.

How It Works

Providers complete an online assessment, gather vendor quotes and apply through the state's information technology grant portal. Funding is reimbursement-based. Key dates:

• November 16, 2026: application deadline, 11:59 p.m.
• January 2027: anticipated award announcements.
• July 30, 2027: projects must be completed.

Individual award sizes were not specified.

Stein said North Carolinians need high-quality care no matter where they live. Health Secretary Dev Sangvai said the fund lets providers use technology to make care easier to reach, and Information Technology Secretary Nate Denny said rural providers know their communities and the challenges patients face finding care.

Sources: NCDHHS; NC Department of Information Technology.