ANNAPOLIS — Southern Maryland hospitals and health providers will get more than $2 million to recruit doctors, train nurses and build a pipeline of dental assistants, part of a new round of federally funded rural health workforce grants the state announced Oct. 14.
Five awards worth $2,067,093 go to organizations whose projects serve only Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, according to the Maryland Department of Labor’s awardee list. They are part of $16.4 million in workforce awards under the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, announced by Gov. Wes Moore and the departments of Labor and Health.
The local awards target the hardest jobs to fill in rural medicine, from physicians willing to commit to a community for years to the dental assistants who keep public clinics running.
| Awardee | Amount | Project |
|---|---|---|
| K&I Healthcare Services | $500,000 | 13-month pathway to train, recruit and retain nurses, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s |
| University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center | $500,000 | Expands the Rural-MD Scholars Program and rural rotations for medical students |
| CalvertHealth Medical Group | $492,093 | Physician recruitment and retention, with added financial support for a five-year service commitment |
| CalvertHealth Medical Center | $300,000 | High-fidelity simulation training for maternal, newborn, infant and pediatric emergencies |
| Charles County Health Department | $275,000 | Dental assistant pipeline through the College of Southern Maryland |
Calvert’s hospital system comes away with the largest combined share. CalvertHealth Medical Group and CalvertHealth Medical Center together won $792,093, nearly 40% of the five local awards. The medical group’s grant offers physicians extra financial support in exchange for a five-year commitment to practice in the region, while the medical center’s will fund simulation training for obstetric and pediatric emergencies, the kind of rare, high-stakes cases a community hospital staff must handle without a children’s hospital down the hall.
In Charles County, the health department’s dental assistant program will send participants to the College of Southern Maryland and help with tuition, transportation and uniforms, according to the state’s release. UM Charles Regional in La Plata will expand the Rural-MD Scholars Program, which places medical students in rural rotations in hopes they return to practice.
More money that reaches the region
Southern Maryland also falls within a number of larger awards that cover several or all of the state’s 18 rural counties. The state did not say how those dollars will be split by county, so they are not counted in the local total above. They include:
- Bowie State University, $500,000, a health care administration and health IT pipeline with dual enrollment and internships, serving Charles and Queen Anne’s counties
- MedChi, $500,000, training, telehealth and resiliency programs for rural clinicians
- Frostburg State University, $499,531, transition-to-practice support for rural advanced practice providers
- Mental Health Association of Maryland, $400,000, a statewide apprenticeship program for the behavioral health workforce
- Medical Revenue Cycle Specialists, $365,344, upskilling for staff at rural county health departments
- Dr. Masica Jordan LLC and the Institute for Public Health Innovation, $200,000 each, apprenticeships for peer recovery specialists and certified community health workers
- Maryland Department of Health, $141,264, an environmental health specialist apprenticeship
Where the money comes from
Maryland received $168 million in December 2025 for the first budget period of the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, money that is renewable over five years and 100% federally funded. The Maryland Department of Health runs the program, and the Labor Department coordinates its workforce grants through two initiatives: Pathways to Health Careers, for entry-level and peer roles, and RISE, short for Rural Incentives for Strengthening Employment in Healthcare, for advanced providers and future health workers.
The workforce grants follow the program’s first round of awards in August, when Southern Maryland organizations also landed millions.
“Every Marylander deserves quality and accessible healthcare and job opportunities, no matter their zipcode,” Moore said in the release. Labor Secretary Portia Wu called the awards part of “a commitment to supporting our homegrown talent at all levels,” and Health Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani said rural communities need “an approach that addresses local needs with local solutions.”
