Rural WY Hospitals Working On Proposals For New Federal Funding

Wyoming hospitals will soon get their funding from the 5-year Rural Health Transformation Program, but for now they’ve been told to focus on the first year only.

Recently all hospital leaders met the Director of the Wyoming State Department of Health, to get more details of the $10-billion that the state will receive from the program, between Federal Fiscal Years 2026 and 2030, which starts on the first day of October each year.

Funds will be distributed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

According to Sheridan Memorial Hospital President and CEO Mike McCafferty, part of a proposal from the state to the CMS was rejected.

“In their original submission to CMS, they allowed for a concept called the perpetuity fund, which would put funds away for a longer period of time than the 5 years allocated within the Rural Health Transformation Fund guidance and apparently CMS didn’t like that concept.”

McCafferty adds the new plan for the first federal fiscal year is that the state will focus on the first $205-million of the funding, which must be allocated to Wyoming hospitals by the end of October 2026 and used by the end of October 2027.

The other 4 years are to be announced.

The WY Department of Health will start receiving proposals from hospitals as early as next month.

Sheridan Memorial Hospital is currently working on its proposal.