VHHA Foundation

Rural Health Transformation in Virginia

Virginia’s Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program represents a historic investment in strengthening health care access, workforce, and outcomes across the Commonwealth’s rural communities. Led by the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) in partnership with the Secretariat of Health and Human Resources, RHT is part of the broader Virginia Rural Vitality initiative, a comprehensive strategy designed to expand access to care, improve health outcomes, and support long-term sustainability for rural providers.

More than 1.5 million Virginians live in rural areas, where communities face persistent challenges including limited access to services, workforce shortages, higher rates of chronic disease, and barriers such as transportation and broadband connectivity. RHT is designed to address these challenges through innovative, community-driven solutions.

Learn more about the statewide program: Virginia Rural Health Transformation Program

Four Interconnected Initiatives

Virginia’s approach focuses on four interconnected initiatives below:

CareIQ

CareIQ will deploy innovative technology and data-driven solutions to modernize systems and interoperability, improve patient outcomes, and reduce provider burden.

Homegrown Health Heroes

This initiative strengthens the rural workforce by expanding training and education pathways, recruiting and retaining clinicians and allied health professionals, and building local talent pipelines to serve local communities.

Connected Care, Closer to Home

This strategy brings flexible, sustainable care models directly into communities through expanded telehealth and mobile care, hybrid care delivery models, and efforts to reduce avoidable emergency department visits.

Live Well, Together

Live Well, Together promotes healthier communities by expanding prevention efforts, reducing chronic disease risk factors, increasing access to healthy food and wellness resources, and empowering Virginians through education and self-management.

To learn more about the initiatives and sub-initiative funding visit Virginia’s Rural Health Transformation website. Up to date information about the status of an RFA and how to apply can be found on the “Ways to Apply” page.

Review the RHT RFA Navigator on the website to learn more about the funding opportunities, sub-initiative contacts, and more.

Ways to Apply

The Role of the VHHA Foundation in the Virginia RHT Program

The Virginia Hospital Research and Education Foundation (d/b/a VHHA Foundation) is proud to serve as a subrecipient partner in the Commonwealth’s RHT implementation. Through this role, the Foundation will administer key initiatives that directly support rural providers: Remote Patient Monitoring, Attract and Retain Physicians (GME) and Food is Medicine.

These grant opportunities will strengthen rural health care access, modernize care delivery, improve access to nutritious food and nutrition education, integrate nutrition-focused interventions into healthcare delivery and build a sustainable, homegrown health care workforce.

Remote Patient Monitoring Attract and Retain Physicians (GME) Food is Medicine
Health care professional pointing to the rural health program information

Funding Opportunities

Remote Patient Monitoring

This opportunity supports the implementation of Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and other continuous care technologies that help rural providers extend care beyond traditional clinical settings. Projects should help modernize provider operations, support technology adoption, improve care coordination, and reduce rates of chronic disease among rural patients.

This opportunity:

  • Is designed for RPM-ready rural providers and partners seeking implementation support.
  • Supports vendor vetting, procurement, training, workflow alignment, data integration, and technology evaluation.
  • Emphasizes scalability, sustainability, and alternative payment model planning.
  • May include participation from health systems, hospitals, free clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, independent rural providers, and federally recognized Tribes.

VHHA Foundation will administer grant funding to help rural hospitals and providers develop and deploy RPM programs. Key areas of focus include:

  • Supporting initial pilot sites and scaling successful models.
  • Investing in RPM devices, digital tools, and clinical dashboards.
  • Providing training, technical assistance, and implementation support.
  • Integrating patient-generated data into care delivery systems.

Attract and Retain Physicians (GME)

VHHA Foundation will support the expansion of rural residency slots in high-priority specialties to strengthen Virginia’s rural physician workforce pipeline. Funding is intended to help health systems recruit, train, and retain physicians who are prepared to serve rural communities. Building a locally trained workforce is one of the most effective strategies for improving long-term access to care in rural areas.

This opportunity:

  • Supports rural residency slot expansion for qualifying graduate medical education programs.
  • Supports recruitment and retention of physicians with ties to rural communities.
  • Prioritizes specialties including primary care (family medicine/internal medicine), obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, nurse midwifery, general surgery, pediatrics, and other specialties needed in rural Virginia.
  • Expects residents supported through the program to complete a five-year commitment to rural clinical work, inclusive of the residency training period.

Food is Medicine

This opportunity supports the implementation of Food is Medicine (FiM) which aims to address root causes of poor health by improving access to nutritious food, nutrition education, and self-management support for rural Virginians with or at risk of chronic disease. This opportunity will support demonstrated sustainable approaches that improve access to nutritious food, reduce preventable utilization, promote healthier long-term outcomes, and generate evidence to support future scaling and reimbursement of Food is Medicine services across rural Virginia.

VHHA Foundation will administer grant funding to improve health outcomes through evidence-based strategies while strengthening partnerships among healthcare providers, food access organizations, and community stakeholders.

This opportunity:

  • Supports project implementation through technical assistance and stakeholder engagement;
  • Facilitates partnerships among health systems, rural providers, community-based organizations, food access partners, and agricultural networks; and
  • May include participation for nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated statewide presence and the capacity to coordinate and administer a Food is Medicine program across multiple rural regions of Virginia.

Key areas of focus include:

  • Supporting pilot projects through a competitive RFP to test and scale effective models;
  • Advancing clinically integrated food and nutrition interventions;
  • Identifying pathways for long-term sustainability and reimbursement; and
  • Disseminating lessons learned and best practices to support future expansion of Food is Medicine programs throughout Virginia.

These efforts will establish a coordinated model that integrates nutrition-focused interventions into healthcare delivery for rural populations experiencing food insecurity and living with, or at risk for, chronic disease.

Connect With Us

VHHA Foundation
Virginia Hospital Research and Education Foundation
4200 Innslake Drive, Suite 203
Glen Allen, VA 23060