FAMU Awarded More Than $10.25 Million to Transform Rural Health Care Across Florida
Landmark awards will bring FAMU’s multidisciplinary expertise directly into Florida communities to expand access to care, strengthen the rural health workforce, and advance preventive care and nutrition.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – FAMU secured funding across four major rural health priorities—Preventive Care and Care-at-Home, Rural and Satellite Clinics, Workforce Development, and Health and Lifestyle/Nutrition and Prevention. The University received five individual Year One awards totaling more than $10.25 million, including nearly $5 million for preventive care and care-at-home, $1.3 million for rural and satellite clinics, more than $2.85 million for two workforce-development pathways, and $1.1 million for health and lifestyle initiatives, with the program continuing through 2030.
“We are grateful to Governor Ron DeSantis, the Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun L. Harris, and the Florida Legislature for their leadership and partnership in launching the Florida Rural Health Transformation Program,” said FAMU President Marva B. Johnson, J.D. “This extraordinary investment affirms Florida A&M University’s historic mission and our covenant with the people of this state: to translate excellence in education, research and service into measurable improvements in the lives of the rural communities we serve. FAMU was founded to expand opportunity. Today, that means stepping into communities where the need is urgent and essential health services are scarce or simply do not exist. We are not funding isolated programs. We are building one connected rural health system that expands the workforce, strengthens prevention, brings care into homes and creates healthier communities. Our exceptional faculty, students, health professionals, researchers, campuses and community partners give FAMU the reach and expertise to turn this investment into lasting infrastructure. This is how rural health changes: with bold ideas, trusted partnerships and the resolve to stay until the work is done.”
The statewide initiative is designed to strengthen health care delivery in rural communities through innovative care models, technology, workforce investments and expanded access to high-quality, sustainable care.
One FAMU: Bringing the University’s Collective Strength to Rural Florida
FAMU’s success reflects a deliberately collaborative, University-wide strategy that brings together the School of Allied Health Sciences; College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences/Institute of Public Health; School of Nursing; College of Agriculture and Food Sciences; and a network of community, health care and regional partners.
Rather than approaching rural health through a single discipline, FAMU will leverage its collective capabilities across clinical care, public health, pharmacy, nursing, allied health, nutrition, agriculture, workforce development, community engagement and research.
“This award represents the power of One FAMU—our collective expertise aligned around a common purpose and working shoulder-to-shoulder with the communities we serve,” said Donald E. Palm III, Ph.D., executive vice president for Health Sciences Enterprise and Research Innovation. “Our School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences/Institute of Public Health, School of Nursing, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, research enterprise and community partners came together not simply to compete for funding, but to build an integrated strategy capable of producing lasting change.”
EVP Palm said the University is taking FAMU’s talent, innovation and commitment directly into rural communities.
“We are expanding access to care, developing the health care workforce, advancing prevention and nutrition, and building trusted community partnerships. Our goal is not simply to deliver programs; our goal is to improve health outcomes, strengthen communities and create a sustainable rural health ecosystem that can serve as a model for Florida and the nation,” said Palm.
The FAMU awards support a comprehensive continuum of rural health interventions:
Preventive Care and Care-at-Home — $4,994,446.08
The FAMU-Gadsden HELPS Rural Health Network will focus on communities across Gadsden County, including Quincy, Havana, Midway, Chattahoochee, Greensboro and Gretna. The initiative will strengthen access to preventive services and care closer to where residents live, helping reduce barriers associated with transportation, distance and limited local health care capacity.
Rural and Satellite Clinics — $1,300,000
Through the Satellite Clinics/Gadsden Smiles Dental Outreach initiative, FAMU will support rural and satellite clinical services at two Quincy-area sites in Gadsden County. The investment is designed to extend the reach of health services into communities where access remains a persistent challenge.
Rural Health Workforce Transformation — $2,857,290.05
FAMU received full funding for two workforce-development pathways—$1,428,837.12 for Pathway 1 and $1,428,452.93 for Pathway 2. The FAMU Rural Health Workforce Transformation Initiative will serve communities across Gadsden, Jefferson, Madison, Wakulla, Taylor, Franklin and Liberty counties, strengthening the pipeline of health professionals prepared to serve rural Florida.
Health and Lifestyle — Food as Medicine — $1,102,876.11
FAMU’s Food as Medicine Initiative will initially focus on Madison and Jefferson counties, with expansion envisioned for Gadsden, Wakulla, Taylor and Gulf counties. The initiative creates a powerful intersection between health sciences and FAMU’s 1890 land-grant mission by connecting nutrition, prevention, agriculture and community engagement to address chronic disease and improve health.
From the Classroom and Laboratory to the Community
The investment also creates significant opportunities for FAMU students and faculty. Nursing, pharmacy, public health, allied health, agriculture and other students will have opportunities to engage with rural communities, gain exposure to rural health challenges and participate in innovative models of care and prevention.
“For FAMU, rural health transformation is also a workforce strategy,” said Dean Mary Simmons, Ph.D., School of Allied Health Sciences. “Creating stronger education-to-practice pathways, increasing rural clinical and community experiences, and connecting students with communities in need can help build a sustainable pipeline of professionals prepared to practice in rural Florida.”
AHCA has identified workforce investment, innovative care models and technology integration as central components of the statewide transformation effort, with the overarching objective of improving access, outcomes and sustainability for rural populations.
A Land-Grant Mission in Action
Additionally, the award reinforces FAMU’s distinctive position as an 1890 land-grant university with a comprehensive health sciences enterprise.
“By combining health professional education and research with agriculture, nutrition, public health and community engagement, FAMU can address not only the delivery of health care but also the social, environmental and workforce factors that influence health outcomes,” said G. Dale Wesson, Ph.D., dean of the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences. “FAMU will work alongside rural residents, health care providers, community organizations and other partners to develop interventions responsive to the priorities and realities of the communities being served.”
Florida’s RHTP framework specifically emphasizes regional collaboration among health care providers, educational institutions, community organizations and other entities, as well as shared approaches to workforce development, technology and health outcomes.
Transforming Rural Health—Together
Florida’s Rural Health Transformation Program represents a major, five-year statewide effort (2026–2030) to reimagine how health care reaches rural Floridians. The federal-state initiative is focused on strengthening the health workforce, expanding access and supporting sustainable approaches that allow people to receive essential health services closer to home.
For FAMU, the more than $10.25 million Year One award is both an achievement and a call to action — the first installment of a multi-year partnership that will carry FAMU’s work in rural Florida through 2030.
It is an opportunity to demonstrate what is possible when the University’s academic programs, research capabilities, land-grant mission and community partnerships converge around one ambitious goal: healthier people, stronger rural communities and a healthier Florida.
Media Contact:
Alonda Thomas
Vice President of Communications
alonda.thomas@famu.edu
