ICYMI: On National Rural Health Day, Rural Floridians Celebrate New Opportunities but Cite Need for Better Access to Care

ICYMI: On National Rural Health Day, Rural Floridians Celebrate New Opportunities but Cite Need for Better Access to Care 

Lake City, Fla. – On Thursday, November 20th, health care leaders, providers, and advocates gathered in Lake City in North Central Florida to highlight National Rural Health Day, a recognition of initiatives focused on improving health access and outcomes in rural communities.  

Florida’s top health care leader, Shevaun Harris, Secretary at the Agency for Health Care Administration, shared the status of Florida’s application with the federal government for a piece of the Rural Health Transformation Program grant, a $50 billion dollar initiative passed in this summer’s H.R. 1. This event focusing on rural health care comes as Florida’s Governor publicly recognized National Rural Health Day, and as the Florida Senate prioritizes rural communities, with Senate President Ben Albritton’s focus on a “rural renaissance - a comprehensive plan to improve infrastructure and expand access to education and health care.” 

“Rural Floridians are forced to be resilient and creative when facing these health care challenges. It’s critical for state and local officials to keep showing up for rural communities,” said Scott Darius, Executive Director of Florida Voices for Health. “No matter where you live in Florida, everyone deserves good quality health care." 

The event was hosted by the Florida Rural Health Association, the Suwannee River AHEC, the WellFlorida Council, and Florida Vocies for Health. A recording of the event can be found here, with Senate President Albritton’s pre-recorded message here.    

Florida Phoenix: Rural health transformation grant applications coming soon 

By: Christine Sexton November 20, 2025 

Hundreds of millions in federal funding will be pumped into Florida’s rural health care delivery system in the coming months, a top health care official in Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration promised Thursday during a recognition of National Rural Health Day. 

Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris said the state intends to make rural health care grant applications available in January or February, after it hears back from the Trump administration on its Nov. 3 request for $200 million in Rural Health Transformation Program funds. Harris said the federal government is supposed to notify the state by Dec. 31. 

“Our hope is to get, again, maximum funding,” said Harris, appearing during an event in Lake City hosted by the Florida Rural Health Association, the Suwannee River Area Health Education Center, the WellFlorida Council, and Florida Voices for Health.  

“We’ll have to get budget authority through the Legislature to be able to tap into any funding that we’re awarded, but we’ll put out those requests for applications,” she added. 

The funds are available under the One Big Beautiful Bill. Harris said the state’s application includes funding opportunities for 15 policy initiatives that address three broad areas: workforce; technology and innovation; and improving health and health access. 

While she welcomed the funding opportunities, Doctors’ Memorial Hospital CEO Lauren Faison-Clark asked Harris whether the state intends to keep the money in the hands of the rural providers or award statewide grants to large outside companies. 

“Many of us in the trenches are nervous sometimes when these well-intended monies come out that big vendors nationwide, vendors will come in and try to get a statewide contract for things where really what we want to do is grow the infrastructure that already exists in rural communities,” said Faison-Clark, whose hospital in Taylor County was hit by thee hurricanes between the 2023 and 2024 Atlantic hurricane seasons.

She added: “Will there be a focus on local solutions?”  

Harris acknowledged AHCA could award statewide contracts but “that’s not our preference.” 

“That’s like a plan C or D,” she said adding, “So, when we’re reviewing applications that come in through the RFA [request for application] process, we’re really going to be spending a lot of time on the sustainability option.” 

AHCA worked with the Florida Department of Health on the application and also solicited input from stakeholders, including issuing a formal request for information. Harris said the agency met with “many of the associations.” 

The agency also looked to the Florida Legislature for insight. 

Harris acknowledged that the state’s application includes ideas borrowed from the rural renaissance legislation that did not pass earlier this year. Senate President Ben Albritton championed the  effort to invest hundreds of millions in state funds to help bolster spending in rural Florida. (The Senate announced Thursday the legislation has been refiled for the 2026 session.) 

“We did look at the key healthcare components of it and, wherever possible, tried to pull forward those pieces,” she said. 

To that end, AHCA’s application includes a $5 million request to provide start-up funding for physicians and “physician extenders” to establish practices in rural areas and commit to staying there for five years. 

There’s an $18 million request to expand the use of EMS providers in rural areas.  

Harris called it a “community paramedicine” approach and said the goal is to increase use of EMS providers to help reduce hospital readmission rates and to avoid unnecessary emergency department visits. The idea is to pair EMS providers with nurses who could check in on patients who have been discharged from the hospital. 

“So, that would get a collaboration with the hospital system and local paramedics to ensure that we’re able to have the impact there,” she said. 

There are  67 counties in Florida. Thirty one of them are considered “rural” under Florida law. The 2020 Census put Florida’s rural population at 1,183,017 people. 

Harris wasn’t the only Florida official  acknowledging National Rural Health Day. DeSantis issued a proclamation extending “greetings and best wishes to all observing” the day. 

In Tallahassee for committee meetings, Senate President Albritton sent a pre-recorded video message in which he reaffirmed his commitment to investing in rural Florida. 

“We’ve seen tremendous economic growth in urban Florida over the years, and it’s rural Florida’s turn now to grow the way we see fit. That’s why, during my last year as Senate president, I’m laser focused on Florida’s Rural Renaissance, a comprehensive plan to improve infrastructure and expand access to education and, yes, healthcare across rural Florida,” he said. 

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About Florida Voices for Health

Florida Voices for Health is a member of For Florida's Health, a coalition of diverse organizations working to improve health care access for all Floridians.

Learn more at www.forflhealth.org.