Trump Administration Announces $37.7 Million to Train and Recruit More Rural Healthcare Workers Across Louisiana

This federal investment will connect colleges to rural providers, create new career pathways, and help communities build the workforce they need

Today, the Trump Administration announced $37.7 million in Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding to strengthen the rural healthcare workforce across Louisiana. This investment will expand healthcare training opportunities and help rural providers recruit and retain the professionals they need.

This transformational funding will deliver $37.7 million to build Louisiana’s rural healthcare workforce through education, training, recruitment, and retention initiatives, including up to $20 million to connect Louisiana’s public universities and community and technical colleges with rural healthcare providers, aligning education and training with local workforce needs. The funding also includes $12.7 million to help 53 rural providers recruit and retain physicians, nurses, dentists, EMS personnel, behavioral health professionals, and other clinicians through incentives, including sign-on and retention bonuses, relocation assistance, and professional training. The additional $5 million will create healthcare career pathways across 39 campuses, helping high school students begin healthcare coursework, preparing participants to enter the healthcare workforce, and helping current healthcare workers advance their credentials while staying on the job.

The Rural Health Transformation Program is expanding access to quality healthcare, regardless of a patient’s zip code, and equipping first responders with the lifesaving resources they need when every second counts. This funding will make critical investments to strengthen the rural healthcare workforce, expand access to lifesaving services, and bring modern technology to communities across Louisiana.

“President Trump understands that every American deserves high-quality healthcare, no matter where they live,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We are putting resources directly into rural communities to strengthen the health workforce, modernize infrastructure, expand access, and bring care closer to home. We are giving states the flexibility to build solutions around the people they serve, while demanding accountability for results. That is how we strengthen rural health, improve the lives of patients and families, and Make America Healthy Again.”

“President Trump made a historic commitment to rural America, and these investments are turning that commitment into better care for patients in communities across Louisiana,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “This is what rural health transformation should look like: federal investment that is putting patients first, driving lasting improvements and expanding healthcare for the hardworking Americans who call these communities home.”