Tennessee

Tennessee's Budget Period 1 award is approximately $206.9 million — above the $200 million baseline states were asked to apply for — as its share of the federal $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, structured by CMS as a five-year program with Year 1 funds obligated by October 31, 2026 and spent by September 30, 2027.

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) administers the program, running solicitations out of its Division of Strategic Initiatives through the Department of General Services. Deputy Commissioner JW Randolph serves as the state's RHTP principal investigator. General program questions go to RuralHealth@TN.gov; the Competitive Procurement Director (Competitive.Health@tn.gov) is the sole point of contact for active RFAs.

Tennessee is building on its existing Healthcare Resiliency Program (HRP) model — which has deployed hundreds of millions and supported 110+ projects since 2022 — to expand preventive, behavioral-health, and substance-use care, address maternity deserts and memory care, modernize rural health technology, and extend the safety net into counties with no provider. Its flagship framing is “Make Rural Tennessee Healthy Again” (MaRTHA).

Tennessee RHTP hub →

• Health Technology & Innovation (Long-Range) — $59,380,009, the single biggest pool.
• Health Technology & Innovation (Short-Range) — $33 million.
• Make Rural Tennessee Healthy Again (MaRTHA) — $50 million.
• Memory Care Assessment Network (MCAN) — a dementia hub-and-spoke network.
• Maternal & Child Health — up to 100 awards ($1.25M small / $1.25M–$12.5M large).
• Plus Safety Net Expansion (>$60M), Rural FIMR ($4.5M), HART built-environment grants, and non-emergency medical transportation.

An EMR-replacement cap of 5% and a $225,700 salary cap apply across categories; the full breakdown is in Tennessee's budget narrative.

Tennessee is flooding the zone with solicitations. Between July 6 and July 20, 2026 TDH released six RFPs through the Department of General Services — a Statewide eConsult Platform, a CHANT call center, rural non-emergency transportation, a pregnancy/post-partum mobile app, and a Rural Health Innovation Catalyst. Named RFAs include Health Technology & Innovation Short-Range (#34320-20327, due July 27) and Long-Range (#34320-21427, $59.38M, due Aug 3), MaRTHA (#34320-20127, $50M, due Aug 3), and the Memory Care Assessment Network (#34320-19326, due July 20). Notably, for-profit health-tech companies are explicitly eligible as lead applicant. The dispatch list below carries the running record.

• July 20, 2026 — Memory Care Assessment Network applications due.
• July 27, 2026, 2:00 p.m. CT — Health Tech & Innovation (Short-Range) due; evaluation notice Aug 24, contract start Sept 1.
• August 3, 2026, 2:00 p.m. CT — Health Tech & Innovation (Long-Range) and MaRTHA due.
• August 31, 2026 — MaRTHA evaluation notices; multiple RFPs carry October Notices of Intent to Award.

Live dates surface first in the dated dispatches below.

The Rural Health Transformation Program was created by Section 71401 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025) and is administered federally by CMS. In Tennessee, the state legislature is separately considering more than $100 million in complementary capital funding, and TennCare is investing $125 million of Shared Savings in targeted rural hospital and primary-care capital projects. Detailed allocation figures are set out in Tennessee's project and budget narratives.

Eligibility runs on two tracks. Direct-to-state contracts go out as competitive RFAs and RFPs, where firms bid as prime contractors — and Tennessee has gone unusually far here, confirming repeatedly that for-profit health-tech companies can be the lead applicant, not just a subcontractor behind a hospital, with the only hard gate being Tennessee Secretary of State registration before contract execution. Assessments, workflow optimization, and technology roadmaps are fundable as the primary deliverable, opening the door to consulting and advisory firms. Subgrants and subawards also flow to rural providers — hospitals, FQHCs, and community-based organizations — where vendors engage as subcontractors or implementation partners. Note that awards are cost-reimbursement only, so applicants must be able to float costs.

Track opportunities on the Tennessee RHTP hub and the RHTP funding portal, and watch the Department of General Services RFP page for live solicitations.