FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 17, 2026

Contact: CMS Media Relations
(202) 690-6145 | CMS Media Inquiries

Trump Administration Announces $50 Million to Optimize Care Delivery and Improve Rural Hospital Infrastructure in Connecticut

This federal investment will help rural hospitals upgrade equipment, renovate facilities, enhance care delivery, and support long-term sustainability across rural Connecticut

The Trump Administration announced today that a $50 million investment is being delivered to improve rural health and expand access to high-quality care for Connecticut residents through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). This funding will help four rural hospital systems modernize facilities, expand service capacity, and stabilize essential healthcare infrastructure to better serve rural Connecticut communities.

Connecticut's RHTP strategy focuses on aligning hospital services with community needs, reducing gaps in access, and ensuring rural residents can receive care locally. This investment builds on the Administration’s more than $7 million in funding previously announced to support prevention and physical activity in rural Connecticut communities.

“President Trump understands that every American deserves high-quality healthcare, no matter where they live,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We are putting resources directly into rural communities to strengthen the health workforce, modernize infrastructure, expand access, and bring care closer to home. We are giving states the flexibility to build solutions around the people they serve, while demanding accountability for results. That is how we strengthen rural health, improve the lives of patients and families, and Make America Healthy Again.”

“President Trump made a historic commitment to rural America, and these investments are turning that commitment into better care for patients in communities across Connecticut,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “This is what rural health transformation should look like: federal investment that is putting patients first, driving lasting improvements and expanding healthcare for the hardworking Americans who call these communities home.”

Today’s investment was made possible through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act — passed by Republicans in Congress and unanimously opposed by Democrats — delivering a historic $50 billion investment to help states transform the way healthcare is delivered in America.

Given that rural residents span several planning regions rather than one continuous area, funding will enable rural hospitals to begin projects that improve access to care, enhance operational efficiency, restructure service lines, and implement new strategies to deliver high-quality care closer to home. Today’s announcement is one part of the larger overall funding amount awarded to Connecticut for fiscal year 2026.

Key initiatives that the state plans to focus overall RHTP funding on include:

• Improving prevention: Expands primary care, prevention, wellness, and chronic disease management for rural residents through earlier screening, community-based prevention, and ongoing management intended to reduce avoidable acute care.
  
  
• Advancing technology: Uses telehealth, AI-enabled monitoring, and digital tools to extend scarce expertise to residents with limited local access, improve information sharing, and strengthen the digital capacity of small rural providers.
  
  
• Strengthening the workforce: Supports workforce development and innovative care models tailored to small communities through recruitment, training, career pathways, and retention strategies aimed at building a more stable local workforce.
  
  
• Reimagining sustainable care delivery: Promotes payment and delivery reforms that support sustainability for rural providers by helping them redesign operations and payment approaches for longer-term viability.
  
  
• Supporting rural hospital transformation: Coordinates state, regional, provider, and community partners around rural access priorities by improving local entry points, referral pathways, and connections between rural providers and regional resources.

The Trump Administration is delivering on its commitment to strengthen rural America by investing in solutions that modernize technology to promote health and well-being for rural communities. Led by CMS, the RHTP is moving beyond the failed one-size-fits-all approach and giving rural communities the tools to build stronger, more innovative, and more sustainable health systems that deliver better care and better outcomes for the Americans they serve.

For more information about the RHTP, visit: https://www.medicaid.gov/resources-for-states/rural-health.

###

Get CMS news at cms.gov/newsroom, sign up for CMS news via email and follow
CMS on X @CMSgov