Louisiana RHTP — Pre-Solicitation Framework
Louisiana
Eligible Entity Types
Funding
Tribal Provisions
Louisiana has at least four federally recognized tribes: the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, Coushatta Tribe of America, Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana. (The United Houma Nation is state-recognized but not federally recognized.) LDH's public RHTP materials contain no tribal set-aside or tribal-specific provision language as of March 22, 2026. NCUIH's January 2026 analysis does not list Louisiana among states with tribal set-asides. Whether Louisiana's federally recognized tribes are eligible as direct sub-grantees, must participate as collaborative partners, or face barriers under the state contracting mechanism has not been addressed publicly. Tribal health programs should contact LDH RHTP staff and monitor the program page (ldh.la.gov/page/rural-health-transformation-program) for eligibility language when solicitations are published.
Application Guide
Louisiana received $208,374,448 in Year 1 RHTP funding — $187.89 per rural resident, one of the higher per-capita figures nationally given Louisiana's relatively small but high-need rural population of approximately 1.1 million. The lead agency is the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), with Julie Foster Hagan designated as RHTP Executive Director.
LDH conducted a public engagement Request for Information (RFI) in fall 2025, signaling stakeholder engagement before the award was finalized. The department's program description suggests a state-managed implementation model — LDH described its role as providing resources, facilitating cross-agency collaboration, and reinforcing state policy changes — rather than a purely competitive grant structure. This language may indicate that some or all sub-grantee relationships will be structured as state contracts (rather than competitive grants), potentially favoring existing LDH-contracting partners.
No procurement mechanism, sub-grantee solicitation, or application portal has been published. Until LDH publishes solicitation details, the primary action for eligible organizations is engagement with LDH directly and monitoring of the program page.
Louisiana's rural hospital crisis is severe: 27 rural hospitals (48%) are at risk of closure, with 9 in immediate jeopardy within 2–3 years. This distress context is likely to shape LDH's solicitation priorities and eligibility criteria.
Initiative names below are derived from LDH press releases and secondary news coverage. Verbatim names from the CMS application narrative have not been confirmed (PDF binary-encoded). All five areas are from public LDH communications.
Based on LDH's framing, likely eligible entity types include Critical Access Hospitals (27 CAHs), FQHCs and FQHC look-alikes (142 sites), Rural Health Clinics (245 sites), community behavioral health organizations and CCBHCs, local health departments, EMS agencies, and tribal health programs (eligibility not confirmed). State-managed model signal: LDH's description of its implementation role suggests some distributions may flow through existing state contracts rather than open competitive grants. Organizations with existing LDH relationships are likely to have an advantage in initial rounds.