Montana

Montana received approximately $233.5 million in Year 1 funding under the federal $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, with up to $1.2 billion over five years. CMS issued final approval of Montana's first-year budget on February 19, 2026, clearing the way to award funds. As with every state, disbursement is annual across five budget periods (FY2026–FY2030), with each year's payment tied to performance.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) administers the program, with Director Charlie Brereton and Program Director Michelle McNamee leading it. Workforce (Initiative 1) is run through the Montana Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). Program contact runs through the State Office of Rural Health at montana.sorh@montana.edu.

Montana's plan is organized around five core initiatives, with a Rural Health Center of Excellence (CoE) at its heart. The CoE is built on three objectives: a data-driven strategy that analyzes rural supply and demand at the county and facility level; long-term sustainability, helping facilities reach positive operating margins without ongoing state support; and performance incentives for facilities that opt in and hit measurable improvements. Alongside it, the state is investing in workforce recruitment, EHR/HIE modernization, EMS, and integrated care for the rural dual-eligible population.

Montana RHTP hub →

Montana's marquee investment is the Center of Excellence, procured as its own administrative initiative. Other visible priorities in the state's tracked project set include drone-based medical delivery, rural EMS, and critical facility repair. Named funding so far includes a $4M rural EMS equipment grant round. Montana published its full budget breakdown alongside the CMS-approved Year-1 budget; the complete program-by-program allocation lives in that budget narrative.

Montana runs competitive procurements through eMACS and bids.mt.gov, and provider grants through Submittable. Activity to date: two Center of Excellence RFPs (one to create the CoE, one to help facilities implement its recommendations), released in April via the Department of Administration; a Rural Physician/APP Recruitment RFP (DLI-RFP-2026-0088DL, opened June 26, closed July 16); a $4M Rural EMS Equipment grant round (portal open through August 15, 2026); and a Medicare/Medicaid duals RFI (May) that will inform a follow-on pilot RFP. The state's July appointment of a 26-member CoE Advisory Council signals its marquee CoE Strategy and Analytics procurement is at or near award. The dispatch list below carries the running record.

Concrete near-term dates: the Rural EMS Equipment grant portal is open through August 15, 2026, and the summer Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting is set for August 6, 2026 in Bozeman (register by July 24, in person or virtual). DLI runs its Initiative 1 workforce stakeholder webinars on a quarterly cadence. DPHHS says it will post additional grant opportunities on a rolling basis; live dates surface first in the dated dispatches below and at ruralhealth.mt.gov.

The Rural Health Transformation Program was created by Section 71401 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025) and is administered federally by CMS. Montana administers its award through DPHHS under its CMS-approved budget, which CMS finalized on February 19, 2026 after DPHHS submitted a revised budget prioritizing scalable, high-impact programs.

Eligibility runs on two tracks. Direct-to-state contracts go out as competitive RFPs through eMACS and bids.mt.gov, where firms bid as prime contractors. Subgrants and subawards (and inter-agency agreements, e.g. DPHHS to DLI) flow to rural providers — hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, FQHCs, Tribal health organizations, EMS agencies and community organizations, applying via Submittable — where technology vendors and consultants most often engage as subcontractors or implementation partners.

Montana has built explicit on-ramps for firms: a Vendor Information page, a vendor-networking directory (around 215 organizations already listed) to find subcontracting partners, and posted vendor-webinar materials and FAQs.

Montana RHTP funding portal →