Rep. Commons: Nearly $10 million in rural healthcare grants coming to House District 13

STATEHOUSE (Sept. 15, 2026) – Nearly $10 million in federal Grow Rural Opportunities for Well-being (GROW) grants is coming to west central Indiana, including Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clinton, Fountain, Montgomery, Warren and White counties, according to State Rep. Matt Commons (R-Williamsport).

Indiana's eight health regions recently applied for a combined $120 million to be distributed to nearly 200 organizations dedicated to promoting and implementing rural healthcare initiatives.

"Access to high-quality healthcare can be a challenge in our rural communities," said Commons, a member of the Region 3 Committee. "These grant dollars will be invested in critical initiatives to expand and modernize care options and help more Hoosiers get connected to affordable, flexible healthcare services."

Commons said GROW grants make up 60% of the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, administered by the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) and Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) and providing Indiana with nearly $207 million for the first year of the five-year initiative.

Region 3 initiatives include:

• Expand Mobile Integrated Health: Bring care into residents’ homes through chronic disease monitoring, medication management, 24–72-hour post-discharge follow-up, behavioral health crisis response, prenatal home visits and telehealth support. 
• Leverage Transportation and Navigation: Expand access to medical appointments, pharmacies and essential services for rural residents. 
• Provide New Access Points: Expand clinic capacity, add primary care and behavioral health access points, launch mobile medical and dental services and support medication delivery for high-risk rural residents. 
• Improve Rural Prenatal Care Access: Boost regional prenatal referrals and care coordination, expand telehealth and remote patient monitoring, deploy trusted activators to conduct outreach, mobile services, postnatal support and education and distribution of prevention and support resources.  
• Support Chronic Disease Prevention: Train community health workers, implement screening and referral workflows in clinical settings, conduct patient outreach and education focused on prevention and management of chronic conditions.

While Indiana's healthcare employment has grown, more than half of the state's 92 counties are considered Health Professional Shortage Areas. In 2025, Commons supported a law to help ensure Indiana’s nursing workforce can meet the growing health care needs of Hoosiers. It allows high school students to enroll in nursing programs and earn credits before graduating to save on education costs and start working sooner. Additionally, Indiana was recently approved for the second Workforce Pell Grant program in the country. Eligible students can now use federal Pell Grants to enroll in Ivy Tech Community College's eight-week Clinical Medical Assistant Program to train for critical healthcare jobs. 

To learn more about funding for rural healthcare across the state, visit in.gov/grow-rural-health.

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State Rep. Matt Commons (R-Williamsport) represents House District 13,
which includes all of Benton and Warren counties, and portions of
Fountain, Jasper, Montgomery, Newton, Tippecanoe and White counties.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.