RHTP State Spotlights
Fresh, Healthy Food Closer to Home in Maryland
In Maryland, an estimated 1 in 3 individuals face food insecurity. While difficulty accessing healthy food exists in every county in the state, nearly 12% of rural zip codes are considered food deserts by the USDA. Through Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding, Maryland is supporting its rural communities as a part of the NourishMD program, which provides grants to support the development, stabilization, and expansion of retail outlets that provide fresh food in Maryland's food deserts.
Rural areas have unique challenges to combatting food insecurity. In food deserts in rural areas, residents must travel more than 10 miles to their closest grocery store while having access to limited or no public transit. They are also more vulnerable to the "summer hunger gap," when low-income families lose access to school nutrition programs.
RHTP funds will be used to create post-harvest infrastructure for Maryland's small farms, increase the availability of more healthy, fresh food in local markets and grocers, and provide nutrition education to help increase demand for healthy food. These investments can help local food retailers reliably stock quality produce and dairy or purchase vehicles for fresh food delivery.
NourishMD locates cold storage in rural areas and provides grants to eligible retailers for refrigeration upgrades and grocery infrastructure to expand aggregation and distribution from local farms and enhance food bank capacity. This provides families with more fresh, locally grown options in neighborhood markets. By helping retailers cut operating costs, the program aims to stabilize prices and keep nutritious foods affordable for working families.
Maryland's efforts recognize that improving rural health is not limited to what happens in a clinic. Access to healthy food, strong local systems, and community-based resources can all play a role in helping rural residents prevent and manage chronic disease.
Learn more: State of Maryland launches NourishMD Grant Program to expand fresh food access in food deserts
Iowa Combats Cancer Through RHTP
Iowa is taking the fight to cancer through its $11 million RHTP-funded Combat Cancer Health Hub Program. Five recently announced awardees will work to expand access to cancer care in rural areas through partnerships, telehealth, workforce recruitment, equipment purchases, and other investments.
The program establishes hub-and-spoke networks of cancer care across Iowa, connecting a central specialized cancer center (the hub) with smaller local clinics (the spokes). Patients can receive routine screenings and follow-up care close to home, while being referred to the hub for complex treatment.
In addition to developing cancer-specific health hubs, this initiative aims to increase access to cancer screening, upgrade equipment for cancer screening and treatment, deliver supportive care for families impacted by cancer, and support studies and analyses by academic partners. These investments are intended to improve care for lung, breast, colorectal, skin, and prostate cancers through routine screening methods.
By linking rural providers to specialized cancer expertise, the program seeks to close gaps in early detection, coordinate care more effectively, and reduce the travel burden for rural Iowans seeking cancer treatment.