access- Year-one award
- $168,180,838
- Lead agency
- Dept. of Health
- Maternal care in the plan
- Names maternal care without a maternal line item
- Status
- Awarded
What Maryland's plan says
The Maryland Department of Health's State Office of Rural Health runs the program, which received $168.2 million for year one, in three pillars: the rural health workforce, sustainable access and innovative care, and healthy eating. The plan's perinatal statistics cut the other way from most states: "Rural Maryland performs as well as or better than the State overall on important perinatal outcomes: early prenatal care is higher among Maryland's rural population (72.9% federally defined rural versus 65.7% State overall)."
Where the plan sees a gap is telehealth: "Telehealth enables patients to overcome transportation barriers and allows rural providers to link to specialty knowledge. Maryland lacks the technical infrastructure to realize telehealth at scale in rural communities." It also notes that "hospitals have been able to innovate with hub and spoke models for specialty care and community-based services."
What was funded
The state announced about $80 million in first-round awards on August 10, 2026: 33 Transformation Fund offers ($72.4 million) and 8 primary care offers ($6.2 million). Three of them include maternal work:
- University of Maryland Medical System, $4,020,144: virtual care and telehealth from the University of Maryland Access Center that "will focus on high-risk chronic diseases, maternal health, post-discharge timely follow-ups, and rural dementia care," covering Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Harford, Cecil and Charles counties.
- Community Education Group, $5,745,751: regional care coordination hubs with maternal-focused services in Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties.
- Cecil County Health Department, $2,000,000, including development of a maternal care plan.
What is open, and what comes next
Nothing maternal is open. The CRISP Rural Health Connectivity Program, which pays up to $40,000 per organization to connect to the state's health information exchange, is open on a first-come basis. The state expects awards for budget periods 2 through 5 but hasn't published dates. Year-one money has to be committed by October 30, 2026 and spent by September 30, 2027.
Who can apply, and where a partner fits
Maryland's transformation rounds require a non-profit lead: "The designated Lead Applicant of the Collaborative must be a non-profit… For-profit entities (e.g. private practice providers, technology vendors) can be partners in a Collaborative or serve as subcontractors to either category of applicant." The state keeps a public Rural Health Vendor Directory. For a telehealth practice, the funded programs that name maternal health are where a partnership starts.
Where Ouma fits
How tele-MFM fits Maryland's model
The University of Maryland program runs virtual care for eight counties from a central access center, and maternal health is one of its four focus areas. A central model like that needs a maternal-fetal medicine layer for the high-risk patients it finds. Ouma provides contracted maternal-fetal medicine coverage and ultrasound interpretation to rural and critical access hospitals. Ouma is licensed to practice in all 50 states and is Medicaid-enrolled in 20 states as of August 2026.
See every state's plan side by side or what a partner letter for an application looks like.
Frequently asked questions
Does Maryland's plan fund maternal care?
Not as an initiative. Three of the August award offers include maternal work, including the University of Maryland Medical System's telehealth program.
Can a for-profit company apply in Maryland?
Not as the lead applicant for the transformation funds. For-profit providers and technology vendors can be partners in a collaborative or subcontractors.