JACKSON (WNE) — The Trump-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed by Congress in July called for $50 billion in funding to support rural health care. Wyomingites may now have a say in how that money gets spent in their communities.

The Wyoming Department of Health is asking Equality State residents to fill out a survey that asks them to rank rural health care priorities. The public input could help state officials fill out an application for $500 million in funds to support rural health care.

“We really take the public engagement very seriously; we think it’s really important to do that,” said Franz Fuchs, the deputy director of the Wyoming Department of Health. “We haven’t really come into this with too many preconceived notions of what we want to do, and we’re always open for new ideas.”

Survey responses will be collected through Wednesday. The survey can be accessed at this link: tinyurl.com/WyoRHSurvey.

Officials from the Wyoming Department of Health have been hosting town halls across the state to get input for what the money could be used for. While every meeting was different, some common themes emerged, Fuchs said. Those included calls to prioritize workforce — hospitals across the state, including St. John’s Health in Teton County, have struggled to recruit and retain providers — and behavioral health services.

“I have been struck by how common a lot of these are,” Fuchs said.

The department’s inquiry comes as it is having its $2.2 billion biennial budget scrutinized by a Wyoming Legislature subcommittee. The subcommittee did not indicate overt cuts to the department during a Sept. 30 meeting. The new federal dollars are not intended to replace infrastructure at the state level, Fuchs said.

“We’re really trying to push the money out to the communities,” Fuchs said.