Rural Health Network Development Planning Program | HRSA 25 037

Opportunity Information: Apply for HRSA 25 037

The Rural Health Network Development Planning Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designed to help rural communities plan and build stronger, more integrated health care networks. The core idea is that rural providers and community partners can accomplish more together than they can alone, especially in places where resources are limited and patients face barriers like long travel distances, workforce shortages, and gaps in specialty or supportive services. Rather than funding direct, large-scale service expansion right away, this program emphasizes planning and early-stage development work that helps organizations align around shared goals, formalize partnerships, and design practical ways to coordinate care and improve local capacity in underserved rural areas.

The program is centered on creating or strengthening rural integrated health care networks, meaning collaborative groups of organizations that agree to work as a connected system. HRSA frames networks as a strategy to link participants so they can collectively address local challenges, expand access, and raise the quality of care for the rural populations they serve. In practice, this can include establishing shared workflows and referral pathways, designing coordinated approaches to chronic disease management and preventive care, improving transitions between settings (for example, from hospital to primary care to home-based supports), and reducing duplication of effort so limited rural resources stretch further.

HRSA highlights three main legislative aims that the network planning work should advance. First, the network should help partners achieve efficiencies, which can mean streamlined administrative processes, shared staffing models, coordinated purchasing, aligned protocols, or other approaches that reduce waste and improve how organizations use time and funding. Second, the network is expected to expand access to basic health care services, coordinate those services more effectively, and improve quality and health outcomes. Third, the overall effort should strengthen the rural health care system as a whole, recognizing that sustainable rural care depends on resilient local organizations, dependable coordination, and systems that can adapt over time.

Within those aims, HRSA signals several specific directions that networks are intended to pursue. Networks are expected to expand access to care, which may involve addressing service gaps, improving referral and follow-up processes, and reducing barriers for rural patients. They are also encouraged to increase the use of health information technology, since tools like interoperable electronic health records, data sharing agreements, telehealth infrastructure, and population health analytics can make coordination realistic across separate organizations. The program also encourages networks to explore alternative health care delivery models, which can include team-based care, integrated behavioral health, telehealth-enabled specialty support, mobile services, community paramedicine, or other models that fit rural realities. Finally, networks should keep quality in view across the continuum of care, meaning they are not only focused on a single clinic or service line, but on how patients experience care across prevention, acute care, follow-up, and supportive services.

Eligibility is broad, as long as the applicant is a domestic organization (not an individual) and fits within HRSA's listed categories. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations including small businesses; and a range of government entities such as state, county, city or township, and special district governments (including the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and freely associated states). Independent school districts may also apply. Health care provider organizations commonly involved in rural networks are explicitly included, such as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), community health centers, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), hospitals, and Rural Emergency Hospitals. Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations are also eligible.

A notable feature is HRSA's tribal EIN/UEI exception. HRSA recognizes that some tribes and tribal organizations operate under governance structures where services are not separated in a way that results in multiple EINs or UEIs. For tribes and tribal governments, HRSA indicates that a single EIN or UEI located in a HRSA-designated rural area can be used to meet network requirements. Even under this exception, the network must still meet the criteria of three or more entities under the single EIN or UEI, and each participating tribe or tribal entity must show commitment to the proposed approach through a signed letter of commitment. HRSA references a specific attachment (the Tribal EIN/UEI exception request) that explains how to request and document this exception.

Key funding details from the notice include the opportunity number HRSA 25 037 and CFDA 93.912, with an award ceiling of $100,000. HRSA anticipates making about 35 awards. The original closing date listed is February 19, 2025, and the opportunity was created on December 18, 2024. Overall, this grant is positioned for applicants that want to bring multiple rural partners to the table, build a shared plan, and lay the groundwork for coordinated, technology-enabled, higher-quality care that is easier for rural residents to access and navigate.

• The Health Resources and Services Administration in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rural Health Network Development Planning Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-19. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 35 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Others.

Apply for HRSA 25 037

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