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September 25, 2026

Takeaways from the most recent news in the technology and policies shaping healthcare.

Government

Maryland Awards $80M in Rural Health Transformation Grants

By Healthcare Technology News ·

Maryland is putting money behind rural care access. The Maryland Department of Health awarded $80 million to 41 grantees in the first round of its Rural Health Transformation Program, Gov. Wes Moore announced Aug. 10, according to Becker's Hospital Review.

The grants fund projects to expand primary care, behavioral health, and dental services across the state's 18 designated rural areas. These are the communities that most often struggle with provider shortages, long travel distances to care, and thin operating margins at local hospitals and clinics. Directing dollars toward primary care, mental health, and dental services targets the everyday access gaps that push rural patients into emergency rooms or leave conditions untreated.

For operators and investors, the move signals continued state-level appetite to underwrite rural health infrastructure as federal support remains uncertain. First-round grantees now face the harder task: turning one-time capital into sustainable services that survive after the funding cycle ends.

Sources

More in Government

Government

AMA, AHA Push to Exempt Doctors From $103K H-1B Fee

The AMA and AHA are asking DHS to exempt clinicians from a proposed $103,265 H-1B visa fee they say would gut physician recruiting in underserved areas.

Why it matters: Hospitals depend on foreign-trained physicians to staff rural and underserved communities, and a six-figure visa fee could deepen existing shortages.

Government

DOJ Accuses UCSF Medical School of Racial Discrimination

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division accused UCSF's medical school of race-based discrimination in admissions from 2023 to 2025, the latest in a wave of federal findings against medical schools.

Why it matters: Federal scrutiny of medical school admissions could reshape how the next generation of physicians is selected and the diversity of the clinical workforce.

Government

Experts Shift Suicide Prevention Toward Limiting Gun Access

Mental health experts are pushing suicide prevention toward broadly limiting firearm access, arguing individual risk prediction is unreliable.

Why it matters: Firearms drive most US suicide deaths, so means restriction could save more lives than screening tools that struggle to predict who is at risk.