Around 50 Oklahomans gathered at the Southwest Technology Center in Altus in late September, representing nearly every part of health care , with voices in public health, hospitals, pharmacies, EMS and behavioral health.

They were all there to talk about the same thing: a $50 billion pot of money, and what it could mean for their communities.

The fund is called the Rural Health Transformation Program. It was signed into law in President Donald Trump’s megabill alongside an estimated $911 billion in reductions to federal Medicaid spending over a decade. It was included amid concerns from some lawmakers about the policy’s impact on rural hospitals and providers.

But the goal is not to make up for the cuts. Officials want to transform how care is delivered in rural communitie

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