Calhoun Liberty Hospital and Partners awarded nearly $16 Million through Rural Health Transformation Program

Three five-year awards, with Year 1 funding now announced, will bring more specialists closer to home, deliver preventive care directly to patients in four counties, and begin work on a new primary and specialty care clinic for Calhoun and Liberty counties

BLOUNTSTOWN, Fla., (Friday, Aug. 14, 2026) – Calhoun Liberty Hospital Association, Inc. (CLH) has been awarded nearly $16 million in Year 1 funding across three separate five-year awards through Florida’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), administered by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).

The funding will expand health care access across some of Florida’s most rural communities in the state’s Northwest region.

AHCA issued its Notices of Intent to Award on Aug. 11, 2026. CLH is lead applicant on two of the three awards and a key partner on the third, led by Northwest Florida Community Hospital in Chipley, a sign of how rural hospitals across the region are working together to close long-standing gaps in care.

Specialty & Acute Care Bundle – $11.2 million (Year 1)

As lead applicant, CLH will direct a new regional partnership connecting seven independent rural hospitals so patients don’t have to drive hours for specialty care. Patients will be able to see heart, cancer and neurology specialists through video visits, and reach expanded mental health counseling by telehealth. Stroke patients will get emergency specialist care within minutes, with fast transfer when needed.

Shared technology will link hospital records so care teams can work together faster.

The seven hospitals are: Calhoun Liberty Hospital, Doctors Memorial Hospital (Bonifay), Doctors’ Memorial Hospital (Perry), George E. Weems Memorial Hospital (Apalachicola), Jackson Hospital (Marianna), Madison County Memorial Hospital and Northwest Florida Community Hospital (Chipley).

Together, they serve residents across Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Walton and Washington counties.

See more in this week’s edition.