CHARLESTON — There is some good news for rural healthcare here in the great State of West Virginia.
Our state has secured $199 million dollars to fund rural health initiatives across the state in 2026. This money comes from a program created by the One Big Beautiful Bill that Congress passed last summer. This level of funding for innovative rural health projects, which can be expected to continue each year for the next five years, can be truly transformational for health outcomes across West Virginia.
Getting this amount of funding was no sure thing. There was a competitive grant program administered by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, and each state had to come up with ways they could use money to improve rural health. All states received at least some funding, but just how much depended on the quality of the application that was submitted.
When the grant application process was announced, our state government, led by Governor Patrick Morrisey, got to work on putting together the best and most innovative application possible. Everyone understood that West Virginians face significant rural health challenges, and that getting as much money as we can for unique and innovative solutions to tackle these problems was a high priority.
In the end, it is evident that the federal government was very impressed with West Virginia’s application. You can see that by comparing how much money we ultimately received compared to the states we touch, which also have significant rural populations.
Pennsylvania got $14.78 per resident. Ohio got $17. Virginia got $21.37. Maryland got $26.85. And the closest of our neighboring states to our situation here in West Virginia, Kentucky, got $46.40.
Based on those numbers, guess how much West Virginia will receive? A whopping $116.50 per resident here in the Mountain State! We really blew the competition away in getting funding from this important grant program. Kudos to Governor Morrisey and West Virginia Secretary of Health Dr. Arvin Singh for this tremendous result.
So where will all this money go?
We will increase access to telehealth and in person care in rural settings, in part by better coordinating local care using a combination of these health care settings. We will build a better health transportation infrastructure so rural patients can get to where they need to go to receive care. We will deliver better rural care by attracting, training, and retaining healthcare providers in rural areas. We will help providers obtain digital tools to be more viable and competitive in difficult markets, freeing up more time for billable patient care.
We will help get more rural West Virginians in the workforce where they can have better access to privately funded health care. We will focus on improving rural health outcomes through improved prevention, nutrition, and exercise. We will invest in incubating new healthcare technologies to improve rural health, making West Virginia a hub for this kind of innovation.
Getting all this money for all these great initiatives is only the first step. From here, we will need to work hard on implementing the new programs and delivering the outcomes we seek for rural health in West Virginia. But it is worth taking a moment to congratulate ourselves on getting a big win for rural health in this state, as we strive to make West Virginia the best place possible to live, work, and raise a family.
Cheren is chairman of the West Virginia Health Care Authority.
