Washington Department of Health Rural Nursing Education Program (RNEP) Community Partner Application 2026 is an open rural-health workforce partnership opportunity for Washington Critical Access Hospitals. As part of Washington’s Rural Health Transformation Program, DOH’s RNEP is seeking additional Critical Access Hospital community partners using a grow-your-own nursing workforce model.
Application cycle: September 10 through October 2, 2026. The current authoritative HCA page does not state a closing time or time zone, so Atlas does not infer one.
Funding/value: the current public community-partner notice does not state a direct applicant-level cash award or per-hospital funding ceiling. HCA identifies RNEP program/subaward support of $3,500,000 funded by CMS/HHS plus $914,538 from other source(s); these are program-level funding figures and must not be represented as an individual hospital award.
Eligibility and geography: RNEP currently partners with Washington Critical Access Hospitals. Current RNEP guidance states that Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers are not presently community-partner classes, although future expansion may be explored.
Community partner role: participating hospitals identify and nominate employed students, provide clinical placements and preceptors, support flexible scheduling, and participate in workforce planning. Students remain in their rural communities while completing Associate Degree in Nursing coursework online and local clinical training. Academic institutions retain primary responsibility for clinical standards and oversight, while community partners facilitate required local placements.
Registrations, match, and costs: the current public notice does not state a separate applicant registration requirement or mandatory applicant match/cost-share requirement. The 80/20 program funding statement on HCA’s page is a federal program-funding disclosure and is not evidence of a hospital match obligation. This is a partnership opportunity rather than a conventional reimbursable-cost grant; the current public notice does not publish applicant-level eligible or ineligible cost categories.
Submission and current guidance: HCA states that the application cycle is open September 10 through October 2. The current RNEP Community Partners page now posts the community-partner informational webinar recording and slide deck. Current official RNEP materials direct prospective partners to RNEP@doh.wa.gov for partnership information. Atlas has not found a separately published solicitation number or complete current application package in the indexed authoritative sources, so any current application form, participation agreement/MOU, submission mechanics, and additional qualifications supplied by RNEP control and should be verified before submission.
Existing approved sites: RNEP’s current Community Partners page lists 16 approved Critical Access Hospitals. The current Healthier Washington rural-hospital directory separately lists 38 Washington CAHs, while the DOH Rural Health Systems page says Washington has 39 CAHs. Comparing the 38-site directory against the 16 approved RNEP sites yields 22 apparent non-approved CAHs after name normalization, but the 38-versus-39 designation discrepancy must be reconciled before treating that prospect queue as exhaustive. Hospitals not already approved may be relevant prospects, subject to the full 2026 application requirements and RNEP confirmation.
Atlas analysis: Atlas Opportunity Score 89/100. N9+ Fit 0/100 because the verified opportunity does not establish remote-exam equipment, telehealth-device procurement, RPM, or other technology acquisition. QC Healthcare Fit 5/100 as an adjacent workforce-services concept only; no contractor clinical-services pathway is established. Dr. Miltie direct-applicant fit 0/100 because the current community-partner class is Washington Critical Access Hospitals.
Official sources: Washington HCA Rural Health Transformation Program; Washington DOH Rural Nursing Education Program; RNEP Community Partners; RNEP FAQs.