HRSA Announces $15 Million in New Investments to Address Maternal Health Needs and Disparities in Rural Communities

Updated on June 14, 2024

Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced a combined investment of $15 million over four years through the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program to improve maternal health in rural communities and a new program focused on strengthening maternal care and reducing disparities in the Delta region (within Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee). HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman highlighted these strategic investments today in Flagstaff, AZ, during the third state convening of HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative

“Addressing the unacceptable rate of maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States is one of the Biden-Harris Administration’s top priorities,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “These investments in expanding access to maternal care in high-need rural communities are essential to helping mothers and their babies thrive.”

“Pregnant women and new moms in rural areas face unique challenges in accessing maternal care services that can include long travel distance to their health care providers,” said HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman. “This is why we are committed to investing in innovative strategies to build and sustain maternity care in rural communities across the country.”

The Rural MOMS Program awardees announced today will each receive start-up funding of almost $4 million over four yours to test out new approaches to support, enhance, and expand access to maternal care, including obstetric care, in rural communities. The Rural MOMS Program focuses on a network model-approach to coordinate care across rural hospitals, medical centers, community health centers and rural health clinics. 

HRSA’s new Delta Region Maternal Care Coordination Program will expand access and coordination of health care services before, during, and after pregnancy in the Delta region of the South and Midwest. The funding will work to address unacceptable rates of maternal morbidity and mortality in the region. HRSA expects to award up to four cooperative agreements to recipients in the Delta region, totaling approximately $7 million over four years. 

HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative is focused on accelerating HRSA’s maternal health work to address maternal mortality and maternal health disparities in partnership with women, grantees, community organizations, and state and local health officials across the country.

Today’s awards include: 

Grantee OrganizationCity, StateTotal Award Amount
Mariposa Community Health CenterNogales, Arizona$4,000,000
University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, Inc.Kansas City, Kansas$3,836,138

This funding builds on HRSA’s ongoing investments to enhance maternal health in rural and underserved communities across the country, including:

To learn more about the Rural MOMS program, visit: https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/grants/rural-community/rmoms.

For more information on HRSA’s maternal health work, visit: www.hrsa.gov/maternal-health.

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