alaska's $272 million is stuck

State health officials have begun distributing the first round of funding from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, a $272 million allocation meant to shore up rural health care across Alaska. The initial round, approved at the end of last week, totals $4.5 million spread across 19 projects, less than 2% of the total funding.

The average award came to about $241,000. The Nenana Volunteer Fire Department received $50,000, the Denali Borough received $108,000, and the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association received $249,200 to study how to run the hospitals in Homer, Cordova, and Petersburg more efficiently.

No projects were approved this round serving Kodiak, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, or the North Slope, regions where some communities are a plane ride from the nearest doctor.

State officials say applications needed clarification and that federal guidance kept changing. The head of the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association says the problem lies in the design of the program itself.

The remaining $267 million is still waiting on decisions, with hundreds of hospitals, clinics, and town governments across Alaska in line, and a federal deadline to obligate the money arriving in October.