Three northwest Ohio hospitals near Fostoria will each receive about $1.38 million in state rural health awards, part of a $92 million round of the Ohio Rural Health Transformation Program announced October 16 in Sandusky by Gov. Mike DeWine and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. The recipients are Blanchard Valley Regional Health Center in Findlay, Memorial Hospital in Fremont and Sojourn at Seneca in Tiffin.
The program, administered by the Ohio Department of Health, divides the $92 million three ways. A total of $31.4 million goes to Clinically Integrated Networks and Rural Health Innovation Hubs, $30.3 million is directed to improving maternal care, and $30.3 million is paid out in one-time payments to 22 rural hospitals. Each of those 22 hospitals receives $1,377,479, the amount behind the $1.38 million figure for the Findlay, Fremont and Tiffin facilities.
State officials said the hospital payments are intended for quality-improvement projects, with examples including behavioral health units, on-site MRI services and expanded diagnostic capacity. Those kinds of projects are often difficult for smaller independent hospitals to fund on their own, because the equipment and staffing costs arrive before any additional patient revenue does.
The list of hospitals receiving the one-time payments extends well beyond the three closest to Fostoria. It also includes Fisher-Titus Medical Center in Norwalk, Community Hospital of Williams County, Van Wert County Hospital, Mercer County Community Hospital, Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefontaine, Wilson Memorial Hospital in Sidney and Marion General Hospital, among others across rural Ohio.
Two area hospitals were not on the list. ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital and Wyandot Memorial Hospital in Upper Sandusky did not receive one of the 22 payments, and the state did not explain how the selected hospitals were chosen. That omission leaves local leaders in Fostoria and Upper Sandusky without a stated reason their facilities were passed over in this round.
State Representatives Meredith Craig and Kellie Deeter, co-chairs of the Ohio House Rural Hospital Caucus, said the caucus had pushed for awards to rural independent hospitals. DeWine framed the broader investment in direct terms, saying, “These investments will transform healthcare in rural Ohio.” Supporters argue that keeping services close to home matters in communities where the nearest alternative hospital can be a long drive.
Ohio was awarded $92 million in program funding for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 combined. This round includes all of the 2026 money and part of the 2027 money, which becomes available October 31. The program grew out of the federal budget law signed in July 2025, and further rounds will determine whether hospitals left off this list, including those in Fostoria and Upper Sandusky, are included in later distributions.