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Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence Receives $500,000 To Develop Healthcare Workforce Model in West Tennessee
Memphis, Tenn. (Aug. 4, 2026) – The Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at the University of Tennesse Health Sciences has been awarded $500,000 to expand the rural healthcare workforce in West Tennessee over two years.
The grant is part of an overall $4 million commitment from the United Health Group (UHG) Foundation to UT Health Sciences, announced July 29, to expand the university’s community health hub model statewide. The goal of the funding for the Center of Excellence is to develop and implement a West Tennessee Rural Workforce Development Hub that will establish a grow-your-own rural healthcare workforce model in West Tennessee that can be expanded to additional rural communities over time.
“We are thankful for this partnership with UHG,” said Professor Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAAN, FAANP, who is the principal investigator for the Center of Excellence and the dean of the College of Nursing. “This investment allows us to build a regional ecosystem that connects talent with opportunity and healthcare employers with the workforce they need. By leveraging collaboration, data, and community engagement, the West Tennessee Healthcare Workforce Hub will help prepare the next generation of healthcare professionals while improving health and economic outcomes across the region.”
The Center of Excellence will identify rural school districts to work with and develop healthcare career awareness and support for students. It will also design pathway agreements connecting high school students to various educational pathways across West Tennessee in coordination with educational and workforce partners. In addition, the hub will align with rural providers and employer partners to support work-based learning.
In the first year, at least three school districts and five employer or clinical partners will be involved in the workforce development hub. The goal is to reach students in the inaugural year with healthcare career awareness programming and to enable students to complete a university-aligned health coach or community health worker training. The program also aims to recruit students into post-secondary health pathways in its first year.
In the second year, the program will expand to include at least six rural districts in West Tennessee and 10 employer or clinical partners. The healthcare career awareness outreach and training efforts will expand to all six districts, as will the recruitment of students to post-secondary health pathways.
Center of Excellence Director Matt McDaniel, MPH, said, “Lasting workforce growth depends on strong local partnerships. By building these connections, we can prepare students for careers that meet local needs and give them opportunities to build their futures in the communities they know and care about.”
The mission of the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence is to strengthen health care across Tennessee by actively involving rural communities in shaping their health care future, providing strategic technical assistance, conducting implementation-focused research, promoting partnerships, and advocating for evidence-based policies that enhance access, quality, equity, and long-term resilience of health care in rural communities. The Center of Excellence strives to fulfill its vision: Empowering rural communities for a healthier Tennessee. For more information, visit https://rural-health.uthsc.edu. You can find the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence on Facebook and LinkedIn.
