Addressing the Rural Divide- Inside NJ’s New $83 Million Healthcare Grant Program

New Jersey announced the first round of grant awards through its Rural Health Transformation Program on July 31, investing $83 million in 103 projects across the state intended to improve the healthcare workforce, infrastructure, technology, prevention programs and chronic illness management in the state.

New Jersey received $147.25 million from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the first year of a five-year Rural Health Transformation Program. The NJ Department of Human Services was awarded the funding and is serving as the program; the NJ Department of Health will administer about $95 million in competitive grant funding.

The Department of Health received more than 200 applications across six grant categories, with first-round funding going to 103 projects.

The $83 million represents the first round of investment and doesn’t account for the entire first-year federal award and funding levels for the remaining four years aren’t yet known.

According to federal grant records, more than 1 million rural residents live in 40 federally designated rural census tracts across 11 New Jersey counties:

Atlantic
Burlington
Cape May
Cumberland
Hunterdon
Mercer
Monmouth
Ocean
Salem
Sussex
Warren

Data on Workforce

In 2025, Salem County had 4.6 psychiatrists per 100,000 residents compared with 17.3 statewide. Cape May had 5.3, while Cumberland and Warren were both at 7.1 and Sussex had 8.8.

Cumberland County had 5.8 psychologists per 100,000 residents compared with 33.4 statewide; Cape May (7.5,) Warren (16.1), Salem (18.2) and Sussex (23.1) also feel under the state wide ratio..

Primary care data painted a similar picture.

Salem County had 20.7 pediatricians per 100,000 residents ages 0 through 24. Warren was at 50.2, Cape May was at 54.8, Cumberland had 61.9 and Sussex had 66. The statewide rate was 80.2.

Salem also had 19.7 general internists per 100,000 residents compared with 46.1 statewide. Sussex had 22.4, Cape May had 25.6, Cumberland had 30.2 and Warren had 38.4.

The five counties highlighted here had fewer psychiatrists, psychologists, general pediatricians and general internists per resident than New Jersey as a whole.

County numbers represent the entire population of each county, not just residents living in federally designated rural census tracts.

An important point is that while the workforce reports classify every NJ county as urban under the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s county-level definition the feds also classify smaller areas within metro counties as rural using census-tract measures that look at factors like population density and geographic isolation.

Income and Insurance

Economics can help fill in the healthcare access picture.

Census data from 2020 through 2024 shows Cumberland County with a median household income of $67,436 and a poverty rate of 14.2%, compared with a statewide median household income of $103,556 and poverty rate of 9.2%.

Salem County had a median household income of $79,960 and a poverty rate of 12.4%, while Cape May had a median household income of $91,128 and a poverty rate of 9.8%.

Warren and Sussex fared better. Warren had a median household income of $100,869 and a poverty rate of 8.2%, while Sussex had a median household income of $116,186 and a poverty rate of 5.2%.

Cumberland also had the highest uninsured rate among the five counties highlighted in the workforce data. About 12.2% of Cumberland residents under age 65 were uninsured, compared with 9.1% statewide.

The uninsured rates were 6.8% in Salem, 6.7% in Cape May, 6.2% in Warren and 5.1% in Sussex.

Income and health insurance play into whether someone can afford and obtain care. People without health insurance are also less likely to receive the healthcare services and medications they need.

However, the county data also shows that healthcare workforce gaps can’t be explained by poverty or insurance coverage alone.

Sussex County had a median household income above the statewide figure along with lower poverty and uninsured rates, but it still had fewer psychiatrists, psychologists, general pediatricians and general internists per resident than New Jersey overall.

References

Andrea Is Searching for a Living Kidney Donor Andrea is a young EMT facing a high-stakes search for a living donor. NJ21st spoke with Andrea and her family about her story, what living with kidney disease looks like and how the community can help her story reach the right person. Visit Andrea's Page NJ21st is sharing Andrea's story as a community service feature. Donor screening information, the full interview, financial support links and contact information are available on Andrea's page.