New Hampshire Moves Forward with Critical Rural Health Funding

CONCORD, NH - Today, the Governor and Executive Council approved four contracts to implement New Hampshire's Rural Health Transformation (RHT) plan to strengthen rural health care access, quality, and long-term sustainability. These contracts will establish Hubs overseen by the Governor's Office of New Opportunities & Rural Transformational Health (GO-NORTH) to support stronger access, improved service delivery, workforce growth, and long-term rural health system sustainability.

These investments are part of New Hampshire's five-year Rural Health Transformation award from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which was awarded in December 2025 and provides more than $204 million annually-the largest award among New England states.

"Since achieving the highest Rural Health Transformation award in New England, our GO-NORTH team has already been working to make healthcare more innovative, affordable, and accessible in rural areas of our state," said Governor Kelly Ayotte. "I thank the Executive Council for approving these important contracts. I look forward to working alongside the Council, GO-NORTH, and our partners to deliver a healthier future for all of New Hampshire."

Four contracts approved by the Executive Council will facilitate the RHT hubs:

• Foundation for Healthy Communities - Rural Health Care Access, Technology, and Provider Sustainability Hub: Supports rural providers such as Federally-Qualified Health Centers, Critical Access Hospitals, County Nursing Homes, Home Health Agencies, and EMS units to adopt innovative care models that expand access and invest in primary care and prevention (e.g., telehealth, team-based care, enhanced care coordination, mobile integrated health, and community nurse programs); adopt innovative technology (e.g., advanced clinical tools to support provider practice and remote-patient monitoring); workforce recruitment and retention activities.
• Community College System of New Hampshire - Rural Health Career Pathways and Early Workforce Development Hub: Builds career pipelines from high school through secondary education degree programs through expanded paraprofessional training, career navigation, employer-linked apprenticeships, and mobile clinical simulation training.
• University of New Hampshire - Rural Health Workforce Education and Training Hub: Expands statewide clinical simulation capacity (site-based and mobile) and, in partnership with rural employers and other secondary education institutions, launches the Governor's Health Scholars Awards Program to grow the rural health professional workforce.
• Community Development Finance Authority - Rural Health Infrastructure Hub: Funds rural health capital improvement projects aligned with the State's RHT plan. Projects will support capital and infrastructure improvements such as nursing home renovations in Merrimack and Coos Counties, the embedding of childcare facilities within rural health care facilities, and other facility renovations and upgrades to expand access to care and support the financial sustainability of rural healthcare providers.

GO-NORTH and its partners will monitor progress closely and report on outcomes to help ensure these investments deliver meaningful results for rural communities. In the coming weeks, these Hubs will release calls for applications to support and fund strategies aligned with the New Hampshire Rural Health Transformation plan.

All calls for applications to support and fund strategies aligned with the New Hampshire Rural Health Transformation plan will be posted on the GO-NORTH website.