By Jennifer Horn, Grant Administrator |
Hey Arkansas,
Jennifer Horn here—grant nerd, rural health junkie, and the person who has probably sat in more of your boardrooms (or Zoom rooms) than your own CFO.
Your Rural Health Transformation Program—HEART, PACT, RISE AR, and THRIVE—was already the best idea the state has had since indoor plumbing. Then Congress dropped $50 billion nationwide ($10 billion a year from 2026–2030) and basically dared us to dream bigger.
Your RFI answers last fall helped shape the state plan. Great work. Your checking account after the RFI? Still reading $0.00.
Real money starts flowing to Arkansas in early 2026, and every single dollar will be awarded through competitive Arkansas Department of Health subawards. Translation: the strongest, data-packed, tear-jerking-but-not-too-sappy proposals win.
Quick recap of what CMS is dying to fund (and how perfectly your programs match)
- HEART (gardens, trails, diabetes coaching) → “We dropped the county A1c average 1.4 points and saved Medicaid $1.2 million in complications—here’s the spreadsheet.”
- PACT (telehealth hubs, specialist networks, trauma-ready services) → “Cut avoidable transfers 24% and kept two rural ERs from turning into expensive parking lots.”
- RISE AR (new residencies, loan repayment, CEO training) → “Placed six providers with 83% retention—Texas didn’t steal them this year.”
- THRIVE (remote monitoring, AI records, upgraded ambulances) → “1,500 high-risk patients managed at home. Admissions down 21%. Grandma June is alive and complaining about the food again.”
Every proposal has to hit at least three of the five federal priorities. Spoiler alert: Arkansas wrote the cheat sheet.
Your 2026 To-Do List (because “hoping” is not a grant strategy)
- Stalk the Arkansas Department of Health website like it owes you money. First subaward announcements drop January–March. Miss it and enjoy another year of duct-tape-and-prayer healthcare.
- Jump into the workgroups now (most are virtual). They’re writing the scoring rubric as we speak. Your input still counts.
- Write proposals that make reviewers stand up and cheer. Weak version: “We’d like to do some telehealth.” Winning version: “County with one ER for 43,000 people and the state’s 4th-highest stroke mortality. Our $1.3 million project will cut avoidable ED visits 22% in 36 months—our 2025 pilot already hit 19%. Charts attached. You’re welcome.”
- Move fast. Federal rules say funds must be obligated within two years of the state award. First polished applications eat; late ones starve.
Need a zero-risk wingman?
That’s literally my day job.
My team and I have helped dozens of Arkansas clinics, critical-access hospitals, and FQHCs turn solid ideas into funded reality. We only get paid from the award (using the federal 15% de minimis indirect rate), so 85+ cents of every dollar still goes straight to patient care.
No upfront cost. No risk. Just dramatically better odds.
Shoot me a note or call. Fifteen minutes, zero sales pitch—just honest talk about whether your project is ready to grab its share of the $50 billion pie.
📧 jhorn@jtsfs.com 🌐 jtsfs.com 📞 501.446.9418
The Bottom Line
Arkansas finally has the cash to make HEART, PACT, RISE AR, and THRIVE more than pretty PowerPoint slides. But nobody’s delivering it with a bow on top.
The $50 billion train leaves the station in 2026. Your community can be on it—growing vegetables, seeing specialists on screens, staying out of the ER, and keeping doctors who actually want to live here.
Or we can keep hoping the next heart attack waits for traffic to clear on Highway 67.
Let’s get you on the train.
Talk soon, Jennifer Horn Grant Administrator | JTSFS.com
P.S. Yes, I still answer my own phone. Try me.