The WV Rural Health Transformation Program launches a once-in-a-generation effort to improve healthcare outcomes, build a healthy and long-lasting rural workforce, and develop a more vibrant economy. - Lead Applicant: West Virginia Department of Health Total Estimated Budget: $1 billion (as directed by CMS for Application development) Sub-Awards: Distributed through a mix of competitive grants and direct state agency awards The West Virginia Rural Health Transformation (WV RHT) Program launches a once-in-a-generation effort to dramatically improve our healthcare outcomes to facilitate the creation of a larger, more productive, and healthier workforce. Enabled by strategic investments in technology and unprecedented collaboration with our rural communities, improved healthcare outcomes will serve as the foundation of West Virginia’s new economic strength and our comeback story. West Virginia will build upon the indomitable spirit of its people and ignite transformational opportunities to grow our workforce, strengthen rural health, and improve our standard of living—overcoming decades of barriers to productivity. West Virginia faces the nation’s toughest rural health and economic challenges. Poor health and disability are the top reasons that West Virginians cite for not working. Reversing that reality is at the heart of this plan. The state will tackle foundational health barriers that hold back workforce participation (including addiction, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, COPD, and asthma), make West Virginia a hub for rural health innovation, and modernize care delivery and payment systems to drive healthcare value and ensure long-term sustainability. The RHT Plan will center on seven flagship initiatives: 1) Connected Care Grid will bring healthcare access directly to people—both in person and digitally—by integrating telehealth, remote monitoring, and local care coordination. 2) Rural Health Link will unify medical and community transportation into a one-stop system so distance and mobility are never barriers to care. 3) Mountain State Care Force will attract top clinical talent while training and retaining West Virginia’s own future providers. 4) Smart Care Catalyst will equip rural providers with payment and data tools that free time for patients and sustain provider viability. 5) Health to Prosperity Pipeline will connect recovery, care management, and employment programs to help every West Virginian find work and prosperity. 6) Personal Health Accelerator will use education and incentives to empower West Virginians to lead healthy, productive lives through prevention, nutrition, and exercise. 7) HealthTech Appalachia will incubate leap-frog technologies that improve outcomes and generate growth, establishing West Virginia as a hub for health innovation. Building on the state’s leadership in advancing Make America Healthy Again priorities, this WV RHT Plan invests in proactive care to prevent the very conditions that lead to public spending. As access and outcomes improve, more residents will rejoin the workforce, healthcare systems will stabilize financially, and private investment will flow—reversing the decades-long trend of poor health and poverty and creating a durable cycle of health and prosperity across the State.
