The St. Mary’s County Health Department has been awarded $3,530,907 in federal funding to launch a countywide initiative aimed at making it easier for residents to find and stay connected to health care, behavioral health, oral health, and wellness services.
The award, announced Aug. 31, comes through the Maryland Rural Health Transformation Program and will fund St. Mary’s 360: Connected Care Everywhere. “People should not have to figure out the health system alone,” said Dr. Meena Brewster, St. Mary’s County health officer. “St. Mary’s 360 brings partners, technology, and trusted local services together so residents can get connected and stay connected — to health care, to wellness support services, and to better health.”
The initiative centers on five components: dedicated care coordination staff placed across clinics, schools, and community programs to help residents navigate services and referrals; an expanded St. Mary’s County Health & Wellness Portal serving as a local directory and referral tool; digital health supports, including help using telehealth and home monitoring devices like blood pressure cuffs; a Mobile Integrated Health team, working with local emergency services, providing home- and community-based outreach for residents who struggle to access care or use emergency services repeatedly; and strengthened connections to primary care, chronic disease prevention, and behavioral and oral health services.
The health department says the program builds on existing local partnerships rather than standing up an entirely new system, working with Greater Baden Medical Services, the St. Mary’s County Ambulance and Rescue Squad Association, the county’s Department of Emergency Services and Detention and Rehabilitation Center, the St. Mary’s Family YMCA, the University of Maryland Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, and WellCheck.
The funding traces back to a $50 billion national program created under the 2025 federal reconciliation package known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” launched by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in September 2025. Maryland received a $168.18 million cooperative agreement from CMS, split across three priorities: workforce development, nutrition access, and — the largest share, at $126 million — sustainable access and innovative care, the category St. Mary’s 360 falls under. The state announced its first round of $80 million in grants, spread across 41 organizations statewide, in August.
Despite its proximity to the Washington, D.C. metro area, St. Mary’s County carries Maryland’s official rural health designation, along with 17 other counties statewide — every Maryland county except its most populous Baltimore- and D.C.-area jurisdictions. Seven Southern Maryland health organizations shared more than $11.6 million combined in the program’s first funding round.
“This award is an investment in the health of St. Mary’s County,” Brewster said. “It gives us the opportunity to build a more connected local system — one that meets people earlier, supports them longer, and helps them reach the care they need.”
More information on SMCHD’s programs is available at smchd.org.
