Host lede
Over the next few years, the state of Idaho is slated to receive close to a billion dollars in rural healthcare grants. N-W-P-B’s Rachel Sun reports on how the state is making use of this federal money.
____________________________________

Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare will soon begin dispersing its first round of funds for healthcare providers and community organizations under the Rural Health Transformation program. 

The funds total around 186 million dollars each year, for five years. Juliet Charron is Idaho’s director of Health and Welfare. She says that funding is intended to drive change in how care is accessed in rural communities.

CHARRON: “ It's not about necessarily getting rural residents to a more urban setting to receive care, because that's, that's how it's happening today, right? … How do we bring care to them?”

Recently closed subgrants include funding for behavioral health programs, substance use disorder prevention, and crisis intervention training. 

I’m Rachel Sun, reporting.