CMS Announces More Than $19 Million for Rural West Virginia: 11 Awards to Expand Telehealth and Specialty Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on October 30 more than $19 million in Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding through 11 awards to strengthen and modernize healthcare delivery throughout rural West Virginia, expanding access to virtual and specialty care and growing the rural healthcare workforce.
The federal investment will support mobile health services, improve chronic disease management and care coordination, and modernize healthcare technology and data systems for rural West Virginians. New tools and services include mobile health units and drone delivery for time-critical medical supplies, remote eye care and patient monitoring technology, nursing education and apprenticeship programs, and secure systems that let providers share information more effectively. The funding also supports mental health and substance use disorder recovery services and tools that reduce administrative burden for healthcare professionals.
"President Trump understands that every American deserves high-quality healthcare, no matter where they live," said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "We are putting resources directly into rural communities to strengthen the health workforce, modernize infrastructure, expand access, and bring care closer to home."
"Rural Americans have life expectancies three years shorter than their urban peers, but thanks to President Trump's Rural Health Transformation Program, states are now making the investments necessary to close that gap," said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. "West Virginia's rural communities are already feeling the impact of these grants."
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said the close to $200 million in funding commitments by October 31 will help bring healthcare services closer to rural communities, strengthen the healthcare workforce, and give providers better tools to serve patients. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Senator Jim Justice, Representative Carol Miller and Representative Riley Moore also welcomed the investment.
The Rural Health Transformation Program was established through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, a historic $50 billion federal investment to help states transform how healthcare is delivered. CMS said West Virginia's overall fiscal year 2026 funding will focus on building the rural healthcare workforce, strengthening rural facilities and access, advancing innovative care and payment models, expanding community-based and preventive care, and modernizing rural healthcare technology.
CMS said today's announcement is one part of the larger overall funding amount awarded to West Virginia for fiscal year 2026, and that the program will continue over its remaining four years.
Related: CMS Announces More Than $233 Million in Rural Health Transformation Funding for California
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：西弗吉尼亚州费尔蒙特医疗中心（Fairmont Medical Center）大楼。公共领域（CC0），经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Fairmont Medical Center building in Fairmont, West Virginia. Public domain (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons.
