Service Area Competition | HRSA 26 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for HRSA 26 004

The Service Area Competition (SAC) is a FY 2026 grant opportunity from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designed to strengthen access to comprehensive, high-quality primary health care in underserved communities. The funding supports health centers that deliver essential services to populations that face barriers to care, with the overall goal of improving community health outcomes across the United States and its territories and affiliated jurisdictions.

A key feature of this opportunity is that it is organized around specific geographic or designated "service areas" that are opened for competition. HRSA publishes the eligible service areas for each SAC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in a Service Area Announcement Table (SAAT). Applicants compete to serve one of the listed areas, meaning the opportunity is not a general open call for any location, but rather a targeted competition tied to areas HRSA has identified for funding decisions. HRSA also notes that, if a currently awarded health center can no longer continue providing services in a funded service area, the agency may release additional areas later in the year through a related process called Service Area Competition - Additional Area (SAC-AA). In practice, that means the set of areas available for funding can expand beyond the initial SAAT as circumstances change.

The grant is categorized as a discretionary award and uses the grant funding instrument type, with the funding activity focused on health (CFDA 93.224). The eligible applicant pool is broad and includes state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other Native American tribal organizations; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (in both cases, excluding institutions of higher education). Individuals are explicitly not eligible to apply under this NOFO, reinforcing that the program is intended for established organizations and public entities capable of operating a health center scope of services.

In terms of scale, HRSA anticipates making about 81 awards under this competition, and the listed award ceiling is $385,000,000. The opportunity was created on 2025-07-24, and the original closing date for applications is 2025-09-22. The funding is intended to support the delivery of primary health care services domestically, where "domestic" is defined broadly to include the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and several Freely Associated States and Pacific jurisdictions: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

Overall, SAC functions as a competitive mechanism to ensure continuity and quality of Health Center Program services in specific service areas, whether through the initial competition list in the SAAT or through additional-area announcements if service gaps emerge.

• The Health Resources and Services Administration in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Service Area Competition" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.224.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-07-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-22. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $385,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 81 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for HRSA 26 004

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