LANSING, Mich. — Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt on Wednesday sent a letter to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel urging her agency to ensure Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funds made available through President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act are utilized to help stabilize and strengthen rural hospitals across Michigan.

“Rural hospitals are vital to the health and economic well-being of small communities across our state, yet they continue to be burdened by overregulation, workforce shortages, rising costs, outdated infrastructure and ineffective government reimbursement,” said Nesbitt, R-Porter Township. “We cannot afford to leave this transformative funding on the table because of petty things like personal politics over names on bills. The people of Michigan deserve leaders to work on their behalf for the prosperity of our state.”

Nesbitt said the RHTP funding offers a historic opportunity to:

• Recruit and retain rural health professionals with a focus on behavioral health, maternal care and primary care.
• Support rural communities with government reimbursement that reflects the true cost of maintaining essential service lines.
• Invest in modern technology, including telehealth capacity, remote patient monitoring and interoperability.

“A community without a hospital creates areas of our state that are not set up to thrive; it loses both access to care and its ability to attract families, businesses and future investment. I stand ready to assist the Department of Health and Human Services in completing their application to maximize Michigan’s share of rural health funding,” Nesbitt wrote in his letter to Hertel.