Rural Health Network Development Planning Program | HRSA 18 034

Opportunity Information: Apply for HRSA 18 034

The Rural Health Network Development Planning Program, often referred to as "Network Planning," is a federal grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). It is designed to help rural communities build the groundwork for an organized, integrated health care network, especially in places where providers have not previously worked together through a formal collaboration. The emphasis is on planning and early network development rather than funding direct service expansion right away. In practical terms, the program supports rural partners that are ready to move from informal relationships to a structured network with shared goals, coordinated strategies, and a clearer path toward long-term system improvement.

The core purpose of the program is to strengthen the rural health care system by encouraging providers to jointly plan how they will improve the way care is delivered across a community or region. HRSA frames this around three main outcomes: creating efficiencies (so rural providers can do more with limited resources), expanding access to essential services, and improving coordination and quality of care. This planning focus matters because rural providers often face unique pressures, including smaller patient volumes, workforce shortages, long travel distances for patients, and limited administrative capacity. At the same time, the broader health system is changing quickly, and those shifts can hit small rural organizations harder. The program is meant to give rural communities a supported way to organize, plan, and adapt together rather than trying to respond to change in isolation.

A key feature of this opportunity is how it defines a rural health network. A network is an organizational arrangement among at least three separately owned local or regional health care providers that come together to develop strategies to improve health service delivery in their community. The requirement that participants be separately owned highlights that this is about collaboration across independent entities, not just departments within a single organization. HRSA also gives a clear example of what this can look like: a critical access hospital, a community health center, and a public health department forming a network around a shared purpose. The list of possible network participants is intentionally broad, reflecting how health outcomes in rural areas depend on many types of organizations working together. Potential partners can include hospitals, public health agencies, home health providers, mental health centers, substance use disorder service providers, rural health clinics, primary care practices, oral health providers, social service agencies, health profession schools, local school districts, emergency services providers, community and migrant health centers, federally qualified health centers, tribal health programs, churches, and civic organizations, as long as they are providing or will be providing health related services.

Administratively, this opportunity is a discretionary grant (Funding Instrument Type: Grant) under the Health funding activity category, with CFDA number 93.912. The funding opportunity number is HRSA-18-034. The posting indicates an anticipated 20 awards. The eligible applicant category is listed as "Others," with the expectation that applicants review the full eligibility language in the official notice for specifics. The opportunity was created on December 21, 2017, with an original application deadline of February 23, 2018. The award ceiling is listed as 0 in the source data, which typically signals that the ceiling may be defined elsewhere in the full announcement, may vary by project design, or may not have been captured in this particular data extract.

Overall, the grant is best understood as a planning and network-building catalyst for rural communities. It targets places where there is a clear need and willingness to collaborate but not yet a mature, formal structure for joint decision-making and coordinated health service strategy. The program encourages rural providers to come together, identify shared priorities, and map out how to deliver essential services more efficiently and effectively, with the long-term goal of a stronger and more connected rural health system.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rural Health Network Development Planning Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 21, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 23, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for HRSA 18 034

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