Funding opportunity
Utah Healthcare Education and Research Foundation (UHERF), a Utah Hospital Association subsidiary administering Utah Rural Health Transformation Program funding, is accepting applications for FAST 4.3, an Alternative Payment Model Pilot for Specialty Care Access. Grants provide declining per diem payments for specialists delivering recurring on-site specialty care at eligible rural hospitals and clinics where the specialty service is not yet financially self-sustaining. This is applicant-facing financial assistance, not government vendor procurement.
Funding and applicant eligibility
The statewide FAST 4.3 competition offers $3,000,000 overall. The controlling RFA does not impose a fixed individual applicant award ceiling; it recommends keeping individual requests at or below $250,000. That recommendation is not a guaranteed award or binding maximum. Eligible applicants must be physically located in one of the 25 Utah rural counties, excluding Davis, Salt Lake, Utah and Weber, bill Medicare or Medicaid, remain in good standing on prior awards, and certify that funds supplement rather than supplant existing funding.
Application deadline and requirements
Apply through the official Submittable application linked from the Utah Hospital Association RHTP funding page by Friday, November 20, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Written questions are due November 13 at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Applications include a specialty and staffing plan, documented access gap, justified specialist per diem, patient-volume ramp-up and sustainability plans, community impact and outcome metrics, a step-down budget, specialist agreement or letter of intent, W-9 or equivalent form, supporting referral data if available, and an authorized signature.
Restrictions and award conditions
Funds may cover justified declining per diem payments for recurring on-site specialist care, not general administrative overhead, staff salaries, separately budgeted travel, subsidies for already sustainable specialty services, or compensation otherwise available from normal patient billing. Matching funds are not stated as mandatory, although documented project cost sharing is a scoring criterion. Awards require monitoring, quarterly and annual outcome reports, and appropriate invoices. The RFA lists January 1, 2027 through September 30, 2027 as the performance period but separately identifies December 1, 2026 as an anticipated start; applicants should clarify this inconsistency directly with the administrator before relying on a project start date.
Official instructions
Review the complete six-page UHERF FAST 4.3 RFA and use the official Utah Hospital Association RHTP funding page for the Submittable application link and any amendments. Applicants must comply with the actual RFA and award agreement.