Delaware RHTP — Rural Library-Based Health Access (HSS26065)

HSS26065 funds rural libraries to serve as telehealth access points, providing equipment, connectivity, and patient support services to help rural residents access healthcare through telehealth platforms. The $1,835,000 Year 1 investment positions Delaware's rural public library system as health infrastructure — a distinctive approach with few national precedents at this scale.

Delaware's rural library network in Kent and Sussex counties provides stable, trusted community institutions that rural residents already use. Libraries offer broadband access, private spaces (meeting rooms), and community navigators who can help residents schedule and conduct telehealth appointments. For rural Delaware residents without home broadband, without smartphones capable of videoconferencing, or without the digital literacy to navigate telehealth platforms independently, a library-based telehealth program removes all three barriers simultaneously.

The library-as-telehealth-hub model involves institutions that are not typical healthcare grant applicants. Expected eligible entities include Delaware public library systems (Delaware Division of Libraries, county library systems); individual public libraries in rural Kent and Sussex counties; library-health organization partnerships; and nonprofits managing rural library network health access programs. Libraries are public agencies and may apply as governmental entities rather than as nonprofits.

Healthcare organizations alone are unlikely to be primary eligible applicants. The program concept requires library buy-in, space, and community trust relationships that only the library system itself can provide. Healthcare organizations may be strong partners for clinical oversight, patient referral, and telehealth platform access. Download the full RFP (HSS26065-RLIBBASHLT) to confirm whether libraries must be the lead applicant or whether a health organization can apply with a library as a required partner.