Opportunity Overview
The Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce (GBHCW) is accepting Year 1 applications for the GREAT Health Rural Graduate Medical Education Development Grant Program. The program supports development and expansion of graduate medical education in rural Georgia, with priority specialties including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, general surgery, geriatrics, and psychiatry.
Funding and Timeline
Awards are available for up to $3,000,000 per award, subject to final budget and scope approval, with at least two awards anticipated. The opportunity opened September 15, 2026 and closes October 15, 2026. As of September 25, 2026, the official GBHCW funding page and the linked live application publish the closing date but do not publish an exact closing clock time or deadline time zone. Awarded Year 1 funds must be spent by September 1, 2027.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are qualifying ACGME-accredited or soon-to-be-accredited GME programs in Georgia that meet at least one published rural pathway. The program may qualify through physical location in an eligible rural or partially rural county, through a sponsoring or participating facility serving eligible rural areas and holding an applicable rural CMS designation, or, for a program outside the designated rural area, by having participating residents spend at least 50% of required clinical training time in eligible rural facilities.
Allowable Activities
Funding may support planning, development, accreditation, and implementation for new or expanded GME programs, including new rural training sites, specialty tracks, training infrastructure, accreditation work, GME-specific personnel, consultants and contractors, minor GME-space renovations, and eligible training equipment and supplies.
The announcement expressly identifies clinical diagnostic equipment directly supporting GME activities and non-capital equipment necessary for project activities as potentially allowable. Applicants must still show that each cost is reasonable, necessary, directly related to approved GME activity, and compliant with state, federal, and award requirements.
Key Restrictions
Grant funds may not be used for operating expenses for residency or fellowship slots, land or building purchases, food, new construction, major renovations, equipment upgrades or replacement equipment, expenses outside the funding period, capital equipment or large-scale infrastructure, routine clinical-care or general-operations supplies, indirect costs that cannot be specifically identified to the project, or costs that duplicate or supplant existing federal, state, or local funding.
Application Requirements
Applicants must describe the specialty, whether the proposal creates or expands a program, anticipated new positions, training locations, implementation timeline, requested amount and budget, readiness, sustainability, and rural workforce impact. The application also requires a detailed letter of intent, limited to 10 pages inclusive of supplemental information, signed by the hospital Board Chair, CEO, and medical staff leadership. Applicants must document a credible plan for operational revenue to sustain added residency or fellowship capacity after grant funding ends.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 96/100. This is a high-value Georgia rural-health workforce opportunity with substantial funding, a clear GME-development purpose, and explicit allowance for project-specific diagnostic and non-capital training equipment.
N9+ Fit: 78/100, conditional. A remote physical-examination platform could be considered only when an eligible applicant ties it directly to GME training, treats it as allowable non-capital or diagnostic equipment under its accounting and grant rules, and follows required procurement. Capital equipment, replacement equipment, routine operations, and unsupported device purchases are prohibited. Dr. Miltie is not the direct applicant.
Verified Georgia Candidate: Crisp Regional Hospital
Crisp Regional Hospital, Inc. is a high-priority applicant-qualification lead. GBHCW named Crisp Regional a FY2026 Exploratory GME Grant awardee supporting GME development or expansion. Separately, HRSA’s FY2026 Rural Residency Planning and Development award records show Crisp Regional Hospital, Inc. received $745,923 to develop a new rural Internal Medicine residency program in Cordele. The federal award identifies Crisp Regional as the sponsoring institution, targets Crisp, Dooly, Lee, Sumter, Turner, Wilcox, and Worth counties, projects six residents per entering class and 18 at full complement, expects ACGME accreditation in September-October 2028, and anticipates first resident matriculation in July 2029.
This evidence establishes a concrete active rural GME development project and strong strategic fit. It does not by itself establish that GBHCW will treat the planned program as "soon-to-be accredited" for this GREAT Health cycle. That eligibility point, the exact applicant/sponsor, Year 1 scope, new positions, leadership-signed letter, sustainability, project budget, procurement, and equipment allowability remain ACCOUNT INPUT REQUIRED / issuer clarification required.
Verified Georgia Candidate: Colquitt Regional / Georgia South
Colquitt Regional Medical Center / Georgia South remains a high-priority candidate for applicant-specific qualification. Georgia South’s current official application page states that the residency program is ACGME accredited and identifies both the Colquitt Regional Medical Center Family Medicine and Psychiatry programs under the program name South Georgia Medical Education and Research Consortium. Current Georgia South materials describe active rural-focused Family Medicine and Psychiatry residency training at Colquitt Regional. Before package production, Atlas must still confirm the exact applying legal entity or sponsor, the proposed new or expanded GME activity, new training positions, training locations, leadership-signed letter of intent, sustainability, budget, procurement, and equipment allowability. These unresolved applicant facts remain ACCOUNT INPUT REQUIRED.
Application
Official funding source: Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce Funding Opportunities.
Application: GREAT Health Rural GME Development Grant Application.