March 13, 2026

The President’s Message is published in the MHA Weekly News Report, a member-only publication of the Montana Hospital Association. To subscribe, click here.

Implementation of Montana’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) continues to advance, with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) providing important updates this week through both a legislative interim committee meeting and a virtual vendor information session.

Together, these discussions provided the clearest picture yet of how the State intends to distribute RHTP funding and how stakeholders—including hospitals and their partners—can prepare for upcoming opportunities.

Two Pathways for RHTP Funding

During the Virtual Vendor Fair, DPHHS outlined that RHTP funds will be distributed through two primary pathways:

1. Competitive procurements resulting in vendor contracts through the State’s eMACS procurement system.
2. Grant funding opportunities administered through the Submittable platform.

For organizations interested in participating in RHTP-funded work, DPHHS emphasized the importance of registering in both systems.

Hospitals and partner organizations should establish or confirm their registration in eMACS and register in Submittable. See our 3/11 MHA RHTP Alert for more details on that. (All staff from MHA member facilities are eligible to subscribe; sign up here.)

Center of Excellence (CoE) Structure

While the full scope and duties of the board are still being finalized, the CoE is expected to have oversight and approval authority related to Initiative 2: Rural Facility Sustainability and Access—the largest-funded initiative within the RHTP and the one most directly tied to strengthening rural hospitals.

The Department shared an initial draft structure for a 17-member governing board. Following feedback from the MHA and others regarding the importance of appropriate hospital representation and balance across the board, DPHHS has indicated it is revisiting the proposed committee makeup and will continue to refine the membership structure.

MHA’s Positioning for Upcoming Opportunities

DPHHS this week also provided an overview of upcoming contract and funding opportunities. The Department plans to release 8 competitive procurements and awards for 5 grant programs by September of this year. The first RFPs, to be released later this month, include:

• Center of Excellence Analytics; FY26 Budget: $11.6M
• Center of Excellence Implementation; FY26 Budget: $105.5M
• School-based Care; FY26 Budget: $5M
• Talent Attraction: FY26 Budget: $1.5M

MHA, through the Montana Health Research and Education Foundation (MHREF) and in partnership with aligned statewide organizations, is assessing all these opportunities. I believe our Association is well-positioned to help achieve many of the RHTP targets and ensure effective, efficient pass through of funding to hospitals.

We will continue to keep members informed as RFPs are released, governance structures are finalized, and additional details emerge.

For ongoing updates, key resources, and links related to the program, please visit www.mtha.org/RHTP.