Gov. Landry, state leaders announce new rural healthcare initiative

BATON ROUGE, La. (KPLC) - Louisiana leaders have launched a new initiative they say will improve rural healthcare across the state.

Gov. Jeff Landry, joined by leaders from the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and Louisiana Economic Development (LED), announced the Rural Tech Catalyst Fund.

The initiative is a partnership between LDH and LED that is designed to strengthen rural healthcare systems, expand access to quality care, and accelerate healthcare technology deployment across the state’s rural communities.

“When businesses want to come to rural Louisiana, there will be a healthcare answer for them,” Gov. Landry said. “I am confident the fund will position our state as a destination for healthcare initiatives and rural investment for years to come.”

According to Landry, the program will expand workforce capacity in rural healthcare, support startup growth in private investment, strengthen healthcare technology infrastructure, and provide pathways for industries to pilot and build partnerships between government agencies, industry leaders, and healthcare providers.

“Rural healthcare providers are already doing extraordinary work with their limited resources. Our goal is to support them and provide tools and partnerships that can improve care delivery and reduce strain on local systems,” Louisiana Surgeon General Dr. Evelyn Griffin said.

According to LDH Secretary Bruce Greenstein, the fund will support dozens of companies over the life of the program through milestone-based awards of up to $3 million per company. Greenstein said over 100 companies have already expressed interest in the program.

“The companies applying will be evaluated by two teams - LED will oversee financial viability, and LDH will be in charge of clinical components,” Greenstein said. “We encourage any company under $50 million in investment today, under 10 years old in operations, and based in the U.S. to apply.”

State officials say additional information, including partnership opportunities and program timelines, will be announced in the coming months.

The funding comes from the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program, a five-year, federally funded investment aimed at increasing healthcare access statewide. According to LDH, the state was awarded roughly $208 million for the first year of the grant, with an estimated award of $1.4 billion over five years.