What the money is funding

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $1,400,000 In partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation, this project will fund up to three infrastructure projects improving access to healthcare facilities. Investments include sidewalks, multi-use paths, signage, lighting, and curb ramps. Projects are being considered in Roseburg, Prineville, Sisters, and Hermiston to improve safe walking and rolling access to care.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $1,096,657 Medical Teams International will expand its mobile dental program into Oregon's North Coast (Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook counties). The project integrates oral health with chronic disease screening by embedding a nurse into the care model to address broader health conditions alongside dental care.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $1,012,479 Oregon AHEC will expand rural student exposure to healthcare careers through camps, mobile training, and clinical experiences, building future workforce pipelines. Middle and high school students will have access to hands-on camps, mobile training units, clinical observation opportunities, and faculty development across all five regional AHECs.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $1,000,000 The Oregon Consortium of Family Networks (OCFN) will expand its services to reach additional rural communities and strengthen support in existing regions. OCFN currently supports families of children with developmental disabilities across 20 counties but lacks capacity to fully reach rural areas and expand into counties such as Benton, Coos, Curry, Hood River, and Wasco. Funding will support expanded partnerships, increased access to developmental disability and health service navigation, and delivery of trainings, support groups, and community events. This project strengthens family resilience, improves access to services, and supports families in becoming stronger advocates for their children.

Wallowa Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $965,661 Klamath Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $208,472 Trillium Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $362,760 This project builds on an existing state-funded model that supports partnerships between community mental health programs and rural school districts. Funding will allow Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness and Klamath Basin Behavioral Health to expand services from 1–2 days per week to up to 4 days per week, significantly increasing student access to care. In addition, Trillium Family Services will introduce new school-based mental health services in Linn County. By increasing both frequency and geographic reach, this project strengthens early identification and treatment of student mental health needs.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $783,516 Oregon Health & Science University’s Casey Eye Institute will expand its mobile vision program, which visits communities across the state to provide free exams and eyeglasses. The institute’s Casey Community Outreach Program will expand its school-based mobile vison services to Seaside, identified as a high-need area, to help close the gap between existing screening and students accessing definitive exams, prescription glasses, and/or continuity of care with local eye providers. In another project, the program will expand existing services for adults in rural communities by outfitting a smaller mobile unit with advanced imaging equipment and a traditional vision exam lane, to provide both early detection of eye disease along with the ability to address refractive services (need for eyeglass correction) in a single visit.

Helping rural seniors stay healthy, independent, and safely in their homes This project addresses a critical gap in care for older adults in rural communities who are not currently receiving in-home support. Through a clinic-based community health worker model, individuals will receive in-home visits and coordinated care focused on maintaining independence and preventing avoidable health crises. Funding supports workforce capacity and service delivery. This work is expected to improve health outcomes, reduce strain on emergency services, and help older adults remain safely in their homes.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $515,051 Area Agencies on Aging will expand access to meals for older adults in rural and remote communities. Funding supports outreach, staffing, infrastructure for meal storage and distribution, and transportation. Partnerships with local restaurants will provide meals while supporting local economies and enabling seniors to share meals with others. This project improves nutrition while addressing social isolation.

BestCare Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $412,635 Oasis Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $77,000 Oregon Washington Network Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $79,615 ReConnections Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $368,063 Nurture Oregon provides integrated care for pregnant individuals with substance use concerns, combining peer recovery support, medical care, behavioral health services, and social service coordination. Funding will expand services across multiple sites, including Oasis Center of the Rogue Valley, ReConnections Counseling, BestCare Treatment Services, and Oregon Washington health Network. Investments include emergency housing support, expansion of mobile services into new rural counties, transportation for participants, postpartum doula services, childcare staffing, and infant care supplies. This comprehensive approach addresses both clinical and social needs to improve maternal and infant outcomes.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $358,171 This project expands Veggie Rx programs that allow healthcare providers to prescribe fresh food to patients experiencing food insecurity or diet-related health conditions. Participants receive produce through vouchers, boxes, or retail partnerships. Funding supports program expansion, relationship building between healthcare and food systems, technical assistance, and group learning opportunities. This model directly connects nutrition and healthcare to improve chronic disease outcomes.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $356,333 Modeled on the University of Washington School of Nursing's preceptor program, NEOAHEC will establish a preceptor payment program to support health professionals across Eastern Oregon in mentoring students in nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physician associate, and behavioral health programs. By providing financial and other supports, this effort aims to reduce burnout, strengthen the training pipeline, and help retain providers in rural communities.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $328,031 Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center will launch a family medicine residency program in Yamhill County, a designated health care shortage area. Based at the Newberg clinic with rotations in Sheridan, Willamina, and Hillsboro, the program will train residents in serving rural, underserved, and Medicaid populations.

Comagine Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $288,104 Oasis Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $320,281 Comagine Health will expand implementation and technical support for Nurture Oregon sites by coordinating workforce trainings, enhancing technical assistance, and convening a statewide gathering to address emerging needs and strengthen cross-site collaboration. In parallel, Oasis Clinic of the Valley will use workforce funding to recruit new providers following a recent departure, helping stabilize and sustain care delivery.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $255,447 Oregon Infant Mental Health Association will expand its fellowship model to train rural providers in evidence-based infant and early childhood mental health practices. Fellows will provide trainings within their communities and statewide. This approach aims to address workforce shortages while creating sustainable career pathways in rural communities.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $254,334 Comagine Health will strengthen peer support services for people with substance use disorders across Oregon by coordinating an annual peer gathering, facilitating learning collaboratives, and supporting ongoing peer connection through huddles and supervision. The project will also expand innovation training and provide technical assistance to organizations employing Certified Peer Support Specialists and Certified Recovery Mentors who serve individuals at risk of, or receiving treatment for, substance use–related health conditions.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $249,800 The Department of Early Learning & Care (DELC) will develop a coordinated statewide plan to strengthen mental and behavioral health supports for young children and their families, with a focus on rural and remote communities. This work fulfills statutory requirements under HB 2166, which does not include dedicated funding, and includes coordination with the Oregon Health Authority to integrate mental health and social-emotional supports into early childhood systems. A key component is the development of a statewide resource list of diverse, community-based mental health consultants who can support early learning providers in preventing suspension and expulsion. This project lays the foundation for a more integrated and equitable early childhood system that improves access to behavioral health supports across Oregon.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $235,581 Building on prior work conducted by Oregon Public Health Institute and Public Health Institute's Bridge Center for OHA, this project will support the development of a new emergency medical services (EMS) pilot focused reversing overdoses by giving buprenorphine in the field. The project team is currently identifying additional EMS providers to participate, with Mercy Flights and partners in Jackson County expected to launch a pilot beginning in May 2026. This effort will test models that allow EMS providers to not only respond to overdoses but also initiate treatment and improve linkage to ongoing care. The pilot is anticipated to inform broader statewide implementation strategies for rural overdose response.

Equipping providers with tools to identify and respond to trauma early To address workforce capacity and resilience challenges, ORPRN will use the ECHO model to deliver remote education and peer learning opportunities for providers across Oregon. The first year will include an ECHO providing training on trauma-informed care, particularly related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Pending additional CMS funding, additional ECHO's could include, but are not limited to, integrating nutrition into primary care, cardiometabolic (diabetes, renal), palliative care, promoting independence in older adults, and ICU best practices.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $146,986 The Next Door, Inc. will expand the Healthy Families Oregon home visiting model and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library into Gilliam, Sherman, and Wheeler counties, communities that currently lack consistent early childhood supports. Funding will be used to build and strengthen referral partnerships with local organizations, hire and train a dedicated family support specialist for the region, and provide supervision to ensure program fidelity. Families will receive in-home support focused on parenting, early childhood development, and connection to services, while children will receive monthly books to support early literacy. This project directly addresses gaps in early childhood access and is designed to improve long-term developmental, educational, and health outcomes for children and families in these rural communities.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $138,902 Siskiyou Community Health Center will expand its workforce to improve access to dental care in rural Oregon by training seven dental assistants to administer local anesthesia. This approach will increase care team efficiency, reduce workflow bottlenecks, and shorten patient wait times, currently averaging about 45 days, by allowing dentists to focus on more complex procedures while improving overall patient flow.

Current Award Estimate Year 1 - $80,765 Lines for Life, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Corrections, Mental Health & Addiction Certification Board of Oregon, United We Heal, and leading addiction treatment providers, will expand Oregon's behavioral health workforce through the Custody to Counseling Pipeline. This project trains adults in custody to become Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors and provides transition support to help them secure employment in the behavioral health field upon release.

The System of Care Advisory Council (SOCAC) will host seven in-person regional convenings with local system of care partners across Oregon. These meetings will focus on identifying regional service gaps, reducing duplication, and comparing Oregon's current behavioral health system to national and state models. Participants will also review and provide feedback on a drafted System of Care vision. Data gathered from these convenings will be synthesized into a proposed transformation model and shared with the Office of Rural Health, state agencies, and funding partners. This work is intended to inform future legislative concepts and policy option packages for the 2029 legislative session.

OHA will fund up to five grantees to conduct needs assessments evaluating readiness for school-based health services. Communities will assess demand for services such as school-based health centers, nursing services, or mobile clinics. Using existing tools from OHA's Adolescent & School Health Unit, grantees will develop implementation plans for sustainable school-based healthcare models.