Microsoft Rural Hospital Resiliency Program partner
The Microsoft Rural Hospital Resiliency Program is one of the strongest philanthropic IT programs in healthcare: discounted Microsoft licensing for eligible organizations, a free one-year Windows 10 ESU through October 13, 2026, free cybersecurity assessments and Cloud Capability Evaluations, free curated cyber and AI training, free foundational cyber certifications, and the free AI-powered Claims Denial Navigator from the Rural Health AI Innovation Lab. Centered Networks is a participating partner. We help qualifying critical-access hospitals and Rural Emergency Hospitals get the program working for them, then operate the Microsoft stack underneath through CompleteCare.
1 in 3
Rural hospitals are actively participating in the Microsoft Rural Health Resiliency Program.
400+
Eligible independent CAHs and REHs can access discounted pricing on common Microsoft products.
100+
Rural hospitals have adopted no- or low-cost AI tools to support their unique needs.
Source: Microsoft Rural Health Resiliency Program, 2025.
The moment
Federal advisories from HHS HC3 and CISA have repeatedly named rural and community hospitals as priority ransomware targets. Operators choose hospitals precisely because clinical disruption forces fast payment. Cyber-insurance underwriters now require documented evidence of MFA, EDR, 24/7 monitoring, immutable backups, and an incident-response runbook before they will renew a policy or pay a claim. HIPAA Security Rule sections 164.308, 164.310, and 164.312 demand the same controls. None of this was sized for a one-to-three-person IT team running an EHR, biomedical devices, clinical apps, and a survey calendar at the same time.
Microsoft built the Rural Hospital Resiliency Program to close that gap directly. Free cybersecurity assessments, free Cloud Capability Evaluations, free curated cyber and AI training for frontline staff, free foundational cybersecurity certifications for IT staff, a free one-year Windows 10 ESU covering up to 250 devices through October 13, 2026, discounted pricing on the business and security SKUs that Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3, E5, Defender, Purview, and Sentinel ride on, free AI tools including the Claims Denial Navigator and the AI Skills Navigator. The program is philanthropic. Eligibility is mechanical: rural-listed hospitals, CAHs, and REHs.
The gap is not the program. The gap is bandwidth. The program documentation is correct but does not include “in what order” or “for a hospital of this profile, which benefits matter most” or “how do we operationalize the assessment findings before the next survey or renewal.” That is what Centered Networks does for hospitals already in the program, and for hospitals deciding whether to enroll.
The Resiliency Program funds the work. The Resiliency Program does not, by itself, do the work. We bridge that.
The program in structure
The full Microsoft Resiliency Program offering, organized the way Microsoft defines it.
Affordable Access
Capacity & Capability
AI & Innovation
How we help
Centered Networks has been a Microsoft CSP authorized for nonprofit licensing since 2014, a Microsoft Solutions Partner with five designations, and a participating Resiliency Program partner. We run the program-side mechanics so your IT team doesn’t have to.
01
A two-week, $5,000 fixed-fee engagement that takes your hospital from initial consideration to fully enrolled. Eligibility verification, Microsoft program registration, TechSoup acceptance, license placement, Windows 10 ESU enrollment, and a benefits utilization map across all nine program offerings, scored against your hospital’s actual environment. See the Rural Resiliency Readiness engagement →
02
A written plan that connects the program’s free assessment findings, ESU coverage window, and AI-tool deployment to a sustained managed-service posture. Mapped against HIPAA Security Rule sections 164.308, 164.310, and 164.312 and cyber-insurance underwriter expectations. The same document satisfies your compliance committee and your funder.
03
The roadmap names the operating tier: Foundations for the HIPAA-aligned baseline, Shield for the 24/7 managed Microsoft Sentinel SOC the cyber-insurance underwriter will ask about, Govern for PHI and grant-funded data compliance, and Intelligence with Healthcare AI Readiness when clinical AI is the next motion. Month-to-month from day one.
Hospitals we serve
Sandpoint, Idaho
Bonner General Health
Critical-access hospital serving Bonner County. Operates a HIPAA-aligned Microsoft 365 environment with managed identity, endpoint, and SOC posture appropriate to a clinical environment that cannot tolerate downtime.
Coquille, Oregon
Coquille Valley Hospital
Critical-access hospital serving the Oregon coast. Microsoft cloud baseline operated to CIS IG1, with quarterly evidence cycles produced for cyber-insurance and HIPAA review.
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Valley View Hospital
Regional community hospital serving western Colorado. Microsoft stack run as one accountable managed service across identity, endpoint, security, and AI governance.
Questions
Microsoft’s philanthropic program for rural and critical-access hospitals in the United States. Three pillars: Affordable Access (discounted licensing for eligible organizations plus a free one-year Windows 10 ESU through October 13, 2026), Capacity & Capability (free cybersecurity assessments, Cloud Capability Evaluation, curated cyber and AI training, foundational cyber certifications for IT staff), and AI & Innovation (the free Claims Denial Navigator from the Rural Health AI Innovation Lab, plus the AI Skills Navigator). Available to qualifying independent CAHs and REHs, and to specific hospitals listed as rural in Microsoft’s reference database within larger health systems.
All independent Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs) in the United States. For hospitals that are part of a larger health system, only the specific hospital listed as rural in Microsoft’s reference database qualifies. Eligibility verification against the database is the first step in any engagement with us.
Microsoft sponsors the program, validates eligibility, delivers the free assessments and training, and provides the AI tools. Centered Networks is the participating partner who handles the program-side enrollment, places the discounted licensing as your CSP, deploys the Windows 10 ESU keys, and operationalizes the assessment findings and AI tools into a sustained managed-service posture through CompleteCare. The program is free; our work is a defined-scope engagement with a clear price.
For the program enrollment itself, yes. For the free assessments, training, and AI tools, also yes. For the discounted licensing and the free Windows 10 ESU, you would need to be on a CSP authorized for Microsoft nonprofit licensing that supports the program. Centered Networks is one of those. Many hospitals register with Microsoft directly first, then engage us as Partner of Record when the time comes to place licenses or operationalize the assessments.
Not for the free benefits (assessments, training, AI tools, Cloud Capability Evaluation). For the discounted licensing and the Windows 10 ESU, you would need to be on a CSP authorized for Microsoft nonprofit licensing that supports the program. The CSP move is non-disruptive (tenant stays where it is; the Partner of Record changes) and is included in the Rural Resiliency Readiness engagement when chosen. See our Microsoft Licensing for Nonprofits page for the CSP-transfer mechanics.
Two paths. Path one: start a Rural Resiliency Readiness engagement with us, a two-week, $5,000 fixed-fee scope that takes you from initial consideration to fully enrolled and operationalized. Path two: register directly with Microsoft and engage us when you need help with licensing, ESU deployment, or operationalization.
Get started
Recommended
Two weeks. $5,000 flat. We handle the eligibility, the Microsoft registration, the TechSoup paperwork, the license placement, the Windows 10 ESU enrollment, and the 90-day operational roadmap. You get a written plan and a partner who can operate the program for the next five years.
See the Readiness engagement →Or start with Microsoft directly
Sign up directly with Microsoft for the Resiliency Program. The free benefits (assessments, training, AI tools, Cloud Capability Evaluation) become available once Microsoft validates eligibility. Bring us in as Partner of Record when you’re ready to place discounted licensing or operationalize the findings.
Go to the Microsoft program page →Send a short note. A senior member of our team will reach out within one business day, no commitment beyond the conversation. Useful when you want to gut-check whether the program fits your hospital before committing to either path above.
A senior member of our team will reach out within one business day.