More than $2.3 million in federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding has been awarded to Missouri to strengthen its rural healthcare workforce and expand access to maternal care, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The investment supports two targeted initiatives: expanding affordable childcare for rural healthcare professionals and establishing Missouri's first certified nurse midwife training program. The funding includes $1.46 million for a cost-sharing childcare program and $879,000 to establish a certified nurse midwife training program with rural clinical rotations designed to serve underserved communities.
"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," said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The funding comes from the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which allocated $50 billion to help states transform healthcare delivery. The broader program will also focus on recruitment and training for healthcare professionals, operational improvements for rural providers, innovative care models, community-based preventive care, and modernized healthcare technology for rural communities.