Opportunity Overview
The Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund supports locally led innovation by Community Health Boards and Tribal Nations to strengthen foundational public-health responsibilities. Round 4 is currently open for new innovation projects that improve how Minnesota’s public-health system builds and shares capacity across jurisdictions.
Funding and Deadline
Applications are open through September 30, 2026. New projects are funded for two years with a two-year renewal option, and current MDH Q&A states there is no applicant request ceiling; applicants are encouraged to request what the project needs, with possible budget negotiations based on the number of applications received. Minnesota’s current program history notes that the Legislature amended the Infrastructure Fund appropriation to $4 million annually in the 2025 session.
Eligibility and Required Project Characteristics
Eligible applicants are Minnesota Community Health Boards and Tribal Nations. Round 4 is for new projects; current Infrastructure Fund grantees may apply only for a different or new innovation project. Projects must address an area or capability in the Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Framework, collaborate across jurisdictions, benefit Minnesota’s public-health system, demonstrate partner buy-in, and support a seamless and responsive statewide public-health vision.
High-Value Project Themes
Strong projects may focus on workforce capacity, shared data and analytics, communications, cross-jurisdiction service models, public-health technology, regional coordination, disease surveillance, and other foundational capabilities where the innovation can generate lessons or infrastructure useful beyond a single local organization.
N9+ / Dr. Miltie Strategic Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 92/100. The grant is strategically valuable because it funds multi-year system infrastructure rather than a single disease-specific intervention.
N9+ Direct Vendor Fit: 35/100 conditional. Technology can be part of an innovation project when it clearly strengthens a foundational public-health capability, but this is not a general clinical-device grant. Any N9+ or connected-care component must serve the applicant’s broader public-health infrastructure objective and satisfy the Round 4 allowable-cost rules.
Application Strategy
Applicants should define the system-level capacity problem, establish cross-jurisdiction partners, show how the project benefits more than one organization, map outcomes to the Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Framework, build a two-year implementation and sustainability plan, and submit through the MDH REDCap application process by September 30. Because the public page does not state a closing time, applicants should verify the REDCap cutoff before the final day.
Application Support
MDH lists September 15, 2026 as the final day for Round 4 questions and September 16 at 9 a.m. for optional office hours. Meeting links were distributed through the CHS-PHN list; applicants can contact health.ophp@state.mn.us for access.
Verified source: Minnesota Department of Health Public Health Infrastructure Fund Round 4 application and program pages, current as of September 15, 2026.