ATLANTA — Rural hospitals in Georgia are facing mounting financial pressure that has forced some facilities to cut essential services — and in some cases, warn of possible closures — even as federal health officials announced a new $50 billion program to strengthen rural healthcare.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz on Monday unveiled details of the Rural Health Transformation Program .

The initiative, created under President Donald Trump’s budget law passed this summer, invites states to submit proposals for a share of $50 billion to expand access and improve outcomes in rural America.

“Rural America deserves a healthcare system, built for rural reality not an afterthought of urban

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