White River Health System (WRHS) has been awarded more than $5 million in federal grants aimed at improving rural health care in Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Thursday. The grants are part of the second wave of funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program and will support several initiatives across the region.
The Rural Health Transformation Program allocates funding under two key initiatives: the Healthy Eating, Active Recreation & Transformation (HEART) program and the Recruitment, Innovation Skills, and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR) program. The latest round of grants totals $54.6 million statewide, divided evenly between the two initiatives. To date, Arkansas has received $208 million in funding through the program, with an estimated $1 billion expected over the next five years.
WRHS received a $2.94 million HEART grant to implement a food-as-medicine program spanning Sharp, Stone, Jackson, Cleburne, Izard, and Lawrence counties. The project will integrate clinical health screenings, produce prescription programs, culinary medicine, and community health worker support, while also creating new markets for local farmers.
Additionally, a $2.11 million RISE AR grant was awarded to WRHS to address workforce challenges in rural health care. This funding will support 13 projects across Independence, Stone, Jackson, and Sharp counties, focusing on recruitment, training, retention, and career development for behavioral health specialists, nurses, laboratory scientists, spiritual care providers, and physicians.
Other organizations in the region also received RISE AR funding. Unity Health in White County secured two grants, including $142,424 to streamline nursing and allied health education programs and $158,502 to fund a year-long gastroenterology fellowship. The latter aims to expand Unity Health’s gastroenterology services from one physician to two, with the fellow committing to at least five years of practice in Searcy.
Other notable awards include: - Heartland Whole Health Institute: $8.42 million to enhance telehealth, disease management, and preventive care in 27 counties, including Sharp, Stone, and Cleburne. - St. Bernards Development Foundation: $3.85 million to establish a workforce network in northeast Arkansas with psychiatry and family medicine training programs. - Arkansas Foodbank: $1.38 million to transform rural food pantries into community resource centers, including in White and Cleburne counties. - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: $536,294 to create a family medicine obstetrics fellowship based in Jonesboro, serving 10 counties including Jackson, Lawrence, and Randolph.
Gov. Sanders noted that these projects aim to reshape rural health care beyond physical hospital settings. Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson added that community input from health care professionals, gathered through ten statewide meetings, was instrumental in designing the initiatives.
The first round of the Rural Health Transformation Program funded telehealth expansion and emergency response initiatives. State officials emphasize that these efforts will eventually touch all 75 counties in Arkansas, with grant details finalized as agreements are signed by each recipient.
Additional updates on Arkansas health care initiatives are expected as funding continues to roll out.