From East Tennessee to West Tennessee, the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences is enabling providers to close health care gaps in rural communities statewide with $1.75 million in grants announced today.
Established in 2025 with a $12 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Health, the Center of Excellence is awarding seven grants, four that will implement solutions-based programs and three that involve planning for such projects.
A key component of the center is to administer and support grants to be distributed to organizations to address rural health concerns. In this way, the center is building on the university’s existing strengths to create a system in which rural communities can thrive.
For Lincoln Shelton, LPC, MHSP, the grant to Higher Ground Counseling in Unicoi County means the clinic will be able to establish an intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment program for juveniles in that East Tennessee community.
While opioid overdose rates in Appalachia are twice the national average, access to treatment is below average. Young people who need more than weekly counseling often face a 45- to 90-minute commute, an obstacle to care in communities where transportation is limited. The juvenile IOP at Higher Ground has the goal of treating 150 people over three years and becoming a self-sustaining program.
“I am humbled and eternally grateful to the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence for this opportunity to make a lasting impact in our community, especially when it comes to our youth,” said Shelton, owner and director of the counseling center. “I grew up in East Tennessee and was diagnosed as an alcoholic at the age of 14 when I was in the Department of Children’s Services custody. As someone with lived experience and now a mental health counselor, I am convinced that this is a God-given opportunity for us at Higher Ground Counseling to help make a positive change for our community’s future.”
In West Tennessee, an implementation grant will support the establishment of the West Tennessee Pediatric Trauma Network by Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital to serve the 20 counties of West Tennessee outside Shelby County. West Tennessee has the highest child fatality rate of any rural region in the state at 80.9 deaths per 100,000 compared to the state average of 62.2 deaths per 100,000.
Modeled on the Utah Pediatric Trauma Network, the West Tennessee network would equip school nurses, emergency professionals, and rural emergency departments with the knowledge, skills, and connections to deliver lifesaving, child-centered care in their own communities.
Approximately 200 children each year are transported to Le Bonheur from West Tennessee hospitals, according to 2019–2024 trauma center data. Of these, 25% potentially could be treated in a rural emergency department with telehealth consultation from Le Bonheur’s medical trauma team. The grant would allow the network to hire a registered nurse for management and to double the emergency training of West Tennessee providers and emergency responders from 30 training sessions to 60 each year.
“We are grateful for the support from the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at UT Health Sciences,” said Rudy Kink, MD, pediatric emergency physician at Le Bonheur. “This grant will enhance pediatric trauma readiness across rural West Tennessee. Together, we are ensuring that children receive the right care at the right time, no matter where an emergency occurs.”
College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAAN, FAANP, is the principal investigator for the Center of Excellence. “There are many needs within rural Tennessee, and it was exciting to see so many innovative solutions to improve rural health. We are excited to be a part of this transformational process for Tennessee and look forward to seeing the outcomes of the grantees,” she said.
Representatives from each of the seven organizations receiving grants will attend the inaugural Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence Conference, scheduled from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on April 21 at the Hilton Memphis. They will each present on their plans for the grants. Other presenters include keynote speaker, Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dunn, DVM, PhD, EMBA.
“The Tennessee Department of Health is proud to support the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence as it invests in innovative, community-driven solutions that expand access to care across our rural counties,” Dr. Dunn said. “By meeting people where they are and equipping local providers with the tools they need, we are building a stronger, more resilient health system for all Tennesseans.”
The Center of Excellence also awarded implementation grants to improve primary care education and access in rural counties of East and Middle Tennessee.
A grant to Bledsoe County Schools supports the continuation of school nurse services as the county collects data on the program’s impact and develops a plan to sustain it when the grant ends in three years. Bledsoe County is one of the 10 most distressed counties in Tennessee, and two of its five schools are on separate mountains in the county’s poorest area. The combination of poverty and lack of transportation represent major obstacles to health care in the area.
A grant to the Family Care Wellness Clinic in Warren County would enable the expansion of diabetes treatment and education. Located in rural Middle Tennessee, the county has no endocrinologist within an hour’s drive of the service area. But adult obesity in the county is 36.7%, and 12.1% of adults have been diagnosed with diabetes The grant would fund the transition of the clinic’s part-time registered dietitian to the role of full-time certified diabetes educator by May 30. The grant would also support the expansion of the electronic health record with specific diabetes documentation and the establishment of a diabetes referral network with local hospitals.
UT Health Sciences Vice Chancellor for Research Jessica Snowden, MD, said of the grants: “This investment reflects what we know to be true across Tennessee: durable improvements in rural health happen when communities are equipped to lead solutions that are both locally grounded and evidence-informed. Through the Center of Excellence, we are building a model that connects academic expertise, clinical partnerships, and community insight to accelerate impact. These grants are not just funding programs, they are strengthening the infrastructure for better health, closer to home, for the long term.”
The Center of Excellence also announced three planning grants that support the expansion of health care access in rural counties.
Hardeman County Community Health Center serves a region affected by poverty, food-insecurity, and low access to health care, which are factors known as upstream drivers of health. Although the health center is a safety-net provider, it lacks a standardized, technology-enabled way to collect and act on information about these factors. The center received a one-year grant that will support the collection, analysis, and application of such data through the integration of a specific screening tool into the electronic health record. This project should result in a model that can be replicated across rural health systems statewide.
In East Tennessee, the Free Medical Clinic is the only free medical provider serving Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties. The clinic received a one-year grant from the Center of Excellence to transform a former federal armory into a comprehensive rural free medical center that would function as a one-stop shop. The center would allow the integration of primary care and chronic disease management, specialty services, behavioral health and substance use, dental, and vision care.
The Tennessee Charitable Care Network will use its planning grant to work with six community and faith-based clinics to evaluate the feasibility of an expansion of Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support into rural clinics. Self-management is an approach that has been proven to lead to better health and quality of life in diabetic patients. But the program is rarely accessible by rural residents.
The Center of Excellence will hold a grant cycle each year for organizations statewide to submit applications for an implementation grant or planning grant. During the first grant cycle, 200 letters of intent were submitted, and 70 applicants were invited to send a full proposal. Sixty-eight organizations submitted full proposals, which were reviewed using rigorous scoring criteria. Each grant was assessed by three reviewers, at least one of whom was a community reviewer.
2026 Grants at a Glance
Implementation Grants:
- Higher Ground Counseling, Inc., Erwin, TN, serving Unicoi County
- Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis TN, for West Tennessee Pediatric Trauma Network serving all rural counties in West Tennessee
- Bledsoe County Schools, Pikeville, TN, serving Bledsoe County
- Family Care Wellness, Inc., McMinnville, TN, serving Warren County
Planning Grants:
- The Free Medical Clinic, Oak Ridge, TN, serving Anderson, Campbell, London, Morgan, Rhea, Roane, and Scott counties
- Hardeman County Community Health Center, Bolivar, TN, serving Hardeman, Haywood, and Chester counties
- Tennessee Charitable Care Network, serving Bedford, Claiborne, Coffee, Dickson, Grundy, Sevier, and Roane counties