Hawai‘i will get $58 million in federal funding for health care development throughout the state’s rural areas.
Gov. Josh Green announced Tuesday that the $58 million awarded to the state by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Rural Health Transformation Program is just one part of a nearly $200 million five-year federal investment in the state’s rural health care development.
The $58 million announced Tuesday is split between two Hawai‘i health initiatives. The lion’s share, $45 million, will go to the University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine for its workforce development initiative.
That initiative – The Hawai‘i Outreach Medical Education in Rural Under-resourced Neighborhoods, or HOME RUN, initiative — offers free tuition for health or health IT-related careers if the person commits to work for five years in rural Hawai‘i.
“Rural Hawai‘i” is generally defined as including the entirety of all Neighbor Islands, as well as the northern half of O‘ahu.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Health will receive the remaining $13 million, which will be used to acquire new ambulances in each county and upgrade emergency communications networks throughout rural areas.
Green said in a statement that the federal funding will help the state retain more health care professionals and improve the quality of care in historically underserved areas.
The federal funds come after an announcement last December that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will award more than $50 billion to all states nationwide to strengthen their rural health networks. Hawai‘i's share of those funds — of which this $58 million is a part — is more than $188 million for the 2026 fiscal year.
Further funds are expected for the state each year through 2030.
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