Rural Nursing Recruitment & Retention Grant Program

The Rural Nursing Recruitment & Retention Program (RNRR) is administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) through the State Office of Rural Health. The program was established to support rural healthcare systems across Texas by helping eligible healthcare facilities recruit and retain nursing professionals in medically underserved rural communities. The initiative is backed by statutory authority under Texas Government Code Section 487.051, which directs TDA to assist rural communities in areas including rural health, community development, and economic development. Additional appropriations for the program were authorized by the 88th Texas Legislature through House Bill 1 for the 2024-2025 biennium. The program reflects the state's broader effort to stabilize rural healthcare infrastructure and address persistent nursing workforce shortages in smaller and geographically isolated communities. The primary purpose of the RNRR Program is to provide financial assistance to qualifying rural healthcare facilities so they can offer stipend incentives to nurses who commit to working in those facilities. Awarded healthcare facilities are required to use grant funds specifically for stipend assistance programs that support nurse recruitment or nurse retention. Eligible nurses may either already be employed at the participating healthcare facility or may be newly recruited into employment. In either case, the nurse must agree to work full-time for a minimum period of 36 consecutive months. The program is intended to strengthen long-term workforce stability in rural health settings rather than provide temporary staffing assistance. Eligible applicants are rural Texas healthcare facilities that employ nurses, provide direct patient care to the community, accept Medicare and Medicaid patients, and are located in Texas counties with populations of 68,000 or fewer residents. The eligibility language focuses on operational healthcare providers that serve entire rural communities. Examples of eligible organizations include hospitals, rural health clinics, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and public health departments. The source material indicates these examples are illustrative and not exhaustive, meaning other similarly situated rural healthcare facilities may also qualify if they meet the stated operational and geographic requirements. The available source information does not provide specific funding ranges, award ceilings, award floors, total program funding amounts, or the number of anticipated awards. Likewise, no matching fund requirement or cost-sharing obligation is identified in the program summary. The source also does not specify whether indirect costs are allowable, whether administrative expenses may be covered, or whether subawards are permitted. However, the program clearly limits the use of awarded funds to nurse stipend assistance activities tied directly to recruitment and retention commitments. Since nurses receiving support must commit to full-time service for 36 consecutive months, healthcare facilities will likely need to demonstrate administrative capacity to monitor compliance with employment commitments and stipend distribution requirements. The application timeline currently indicates that the next funding cycle is expected to open in Spring 2026. No exact application opening date or closing deadline has been published in the provided materials. Because the announcement uses forward-looking language indicating an anticipated future cycle, the opportunity is considered forecasted rather than currently open for applications. No letter of intent, pre-application requirement, or phased submission process is identified in the source material. The source also does not identify application submission mechanics, required forms, evaluation scoring criteria, anticipated award announcements, reporting obligations, or performance start dates. Similarly, no webinar requirements, technical assistance schedules, or question-and-answer deadlines are described in the available materials. Contact information for the program is provided through both the Texas Department of Agriculture Grants Office and the State Office of Rural Health. Interested applicants may contact the Grants Office through the email address Grants@TexasAgriculture.gov or contact the State Office of Rural Health at SORHTX@TexasAgriculture.gov for additional information regarding eligibility, timelines, and application guidance. No direct phone number or named program officer is listed in the source material. The program appears intended to operate as part of an ongoing rural healthcare workforce support strategy in Texas, suggesting the possibility of future recurring funding cycles, although the source material does not explicitly confirm an annual recurrence schedule.

Emphasize long-term nurse retention strategies and demonstrate the facility's direct patient care role within a qualifying rural Texas community.