Through Florida’s Rural Health
Transformation program
Calhoun Liberty Hospital
and Partners awarded
nearly $16 million
from Kristy Terry, TMH Healthcare
Three five-year awards, with Year 1 funding now announced, will bring more specialists closer to home, deliver preventive care directly to patients in four counties, and begin work on a new primary and specialty care clinic for Calhoun and Liberty counties
BLOUNTSTOWN, FL – Calhoun Liberty Hospital Association, Inc. (CLH) has been awarded nearly $16 million in Year 1 funding across three separate five-year awards through Florida’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), administered by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). The funding will expand health care access across some of Florida’s most rural communities in the state’s Northwest region.
AHCA issued its Notices of Intent to Award on Aug. 11, 2026. CLH is lead applicant on two of the three awards and a key partner on the third, led by Northwest Florida Community Hospital in Chipley, a sign of how rural hospitals across the region are working together to close long-standing gaps in care.
Specialty & Acute Care Bundle
– $11.2 million (Year 1)
As lead applicant, CLH will direct a new regional partnership connecting seven independent rural hospitals so patients don’t have to drive hours for specialty care. Patients will be able to see heart, cancer and neurology specialists through video visits, and reach expanded mental health counseling by telehealth. Stroke patients will get emergency specialist care within minutes, with fast transfer when needed. Shared technology will link hospital records so care teams can work together faster.
The seven hospitals are Calhoun Liberty Hospital, Doctors Memorial Hospital (Bonifay), Doctors’ Memorial Hospital (Perry), George E. Weems Memorial Hospital (Apalachicola), Jackson Hospital (Marianna), Madison County Memorial Hospital and Northwest Florida Community Hospital (Chipley). Together, they serve residents across Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Walton and Washington counties.
Preventive Care & Care-at-Home
Bundle – $4.1 million (Year 1)
CLH is partnering with Northwest Florida Community Hospital on a program that brings care to patients, not the other way around. Nurses and paramedics will visit patients at home, new technology will let doctors monitor chronic conditions remotely, and new clinic options will open in local pharmacies and retail spaces across Washington, Calhoun, Liberty and northern Jackson counties. The goal is simple: catch health problems early and manage them close to home, so families spend less time in the emergency room and more time together. That includes communities like Liberty County, which has no family-practice physician today.
Rural & Satellite Clinics Initiative
$650,000 (Year 1)
CLH will begin developing a new primary and specialty care clinic on its Blountstown campus, the Calhoun Liberty Primary and Specialty Care Center, to expand access to primary care and bring specialty visits closer to home. The exact scope of services will be finalized as the program is built out. The clinic will serve an area of roughly 21,200 residents of Calhoun and Liberty counties, with only a handful of physicians and no local obstetrician or pediatrician, cutting down the long drives families now make for care.
“These awards are a turning point for rural health care in our region,” said Emily Brown, CEO of Calhoun Liberty Hospital. “Just one year after reopening our hospital, our team and our partners have come together to bring specialty care, care at home and a permanent clinic to communities that have not had these services. This is about our neighbors being able to get the right care close to home. We could not be prouder to both lead and partner in this work.”
These awards reflect years of work by CLH and its regional partners to build a stronger, more connected health care system for rural Florida families.
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About Calhoun Liberty Hospital
Calhoun Liberty Hospital (CLH) is a private, nonprofit, Critical Access Hospital that has served Calhoun and Liberty counties for 65 years, committed to delivering professional, courteous and compassionate care through emergency services, primary care, short-term inpatient rehabilitation and a range of outpatient services. After Hurricane Michael destroyed its original facility in 2018, CLH rebuilt and reopened a new 50,000-square-foot hospital in Blountstown in August 2025 and has been recognized as a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The Calhoun Liberty Hospital Association, Inc. (CLHA) contracts with Alliant Management Services for administrative operations and has a formal partnership with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) to enhance the services and resources available to CLH. For more information, visit calhounlibertyhospital.com.
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