Zufall Health receives landmark Rural Health Transformation Program funding to expand rural health care access

New Jersey isn’t usually included in national conversations about rural health care. Yet more than one million residents live in areas the state designates as rural, where the challenges look much like those in rural communities nationwide: long drives, sparse public transportation, and too few providers. For rural residents with low incomes and limited insurance coverage, these barriers are even more pronounced, forcing many to delay care until manageable conditions become emergencies.

These are the gaps Zufall Health aims to close in Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren Counties, supported by a first-year award from New Jersey’s five-year Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program. The organization received approximately $750,000 through the RHT Program, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiative designed to strengthen rural health care access nationwide.

Shown with a young patient at Zufall Health – Hackettstown, Family Nurse Practitioner Lauren Cuza, MSN, FNP, says expanded primary care access will help rural residents of all ages more proactively manage their health.

“For too long, rural residents in New Jersey have faced barriers that make getting care more difficult,” said Zufall’s President and CEO, Fran Palm. “Our participation in New Jersey’s RHT Program is a critical step toward bringing more resources, services, and support closer to home.”

At the center of the effort is a significant expansion of mobile medical and dental services. Zufall will increase deployment of its two clinical mobile units — the Zufall Health Mobile Medical and the Zufall Health Delta Dental Mobile  — to homeless shelters, food pantries, agricultural farms, and other community hubs where people facing care barriers live, work, or gather. Many mobile health events will be paired with the Zufall Eats van to address food insecurity alongside clinical services.

The need for localized intervention is illustrated by patients like Paul*, a Warren County resident who doesn’t drive and has experienced gaps in his Medicaid coverage. After months of untreated hypertension led to an emergency cardiac event, Paul was referred to Zufall for ongoing primary care and medication management. Today, his blood pressure is under control.

“By the time Paul could reach me, a routine problem had become a crisis — not because he didn’t want help, but because he wasn’t able to get it sooner,” said Family Nurse Practitioner Lauren Cuza, MSN, FNP. “When we prioritize access for our rural patients, they can stay ahead of their health instead of catching up to it.”

Beyond in-person services, Zufall is strengthening virtual care for residents of New Jersey’s northwest corner, including technology to help patients navigate telehealth and online portals, and increasing capacity for remote chronic disease monitoring. Additional grant activities include Medicaid and NJ Health Insurance Marketplace enrollment assistance and developing stronger referral networks with local community partners.

Although current RHT funding runs through October 30, Zufall leaders see this as the start of a longer-term commitment that will be integrated into its operations. “Our goal is to build lasting partnerships and sustainable models of care that ensure every person — regardless of where they live — has access to the high-quality health care they deserve,” Palm said.

*Name changed to protect patient privacy.

Disclaimer: This publication is funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $147,250,805.85, with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Above: Zufall’s new rural health initiatives are providing rural residents with more convenient options for care—like this Mobile Medical visit to a Sussex County farm, led by Physician Alejandra Bolanos-Delgado, MD, Certified Medical Assistant Luis Enriquez, and Community Outreach Representative Geovani Estacio-Carrillo.