The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, has announced its fiscal year 2027 Rural Hospital Capital Improvement Grant competition. Applications opened October 19, 2026 and are due December 11, 2026, by 4:30 p.m. Central Time through the ORHPC Online Grants Portal. This is competitive financial assistance for hospitals, not a procurement contract.
Individual funding and total program
MDH anticipates approximately 18 grants, each from $45,000 to $125,000. The programwide available amount is $1,755,000, which is not the amount available to one applicant.
Eligible applicants
Applicants must be non-federal, not-for-profit general acute-care hospitals with 50 or fewer beds, located in a rural Minnesota area as defined by the program or in a community of fewer than 15,000 people outside the seven-county Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The controlling RFP determines final eligibility.
Project fit and application
The program supports qualifying modernization projects to update, remodel or replace aging hospital facilities and equipment necessary to maintain hospital operations. The official funding page provides the 2027 RFP, sample budget worksheet, and MDH due-diligence form. Applicants must review the RFP for project restrictions, any matching or cost-sharing rules, required approvals and documents, and reimbursement conditions before applying; those details have not yet been independently confirmed here.
Official funder page: Minnesota Department of Health — ORHPC Grant Opportunities. Follow the Rural Hospital Capital Improvement Grant section for the controlling 2027 RFP and the ORHPC portal. Public program information reviewed October 18, 2026; full RFP verification remains outstanding.