Gov. Morrisey signs Rural Health Transformation funding bill

by Lori Kersey, West Virginia Watch
April 23, 2026

The state of West Virginia plans to release some details soon about how it will begin to award approximately $200 million in funding from the federal government’s Rural Health Transformation Program. 

The state Department of Health will begin to release competitive awards for funding availability for the program on a rolling basis over the next two weeks. The initial grants will focus specifically on the workforce, recruitment and community-based nutrition aspects of the program, Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office said in a news release.

Morrisey on Thursday held a ceremonial bill signing for Senate Bill 570, which authorizes the state to spend the money. The governor hosted the bill signing ceremony at WVU Medicine’s Princeton Community Hospital in Mercer County. 

“(The funding is) going to provide facilities like this and health care providers across the state with opportunities to make deep improvements in terms of how they’re delivering care to patients, more accessibility in terms of the ability to access the health care choices that we need, improvements in terms of recruiting, retention,” Morrisey said.

The five-year, $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program aims to “transform the existing rural health care infrastructure and build sustainable health care systems that expand access, enhance quality of care, and improve outcomes for patients,” according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The program was authorized under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which made historic cuts to health care funding. 

Under Morrisey’s plan for the program, West Virginia rural schools, libraries and other community institutions would be outfitted for use in telemedicine. The state also plans to address the state’s health care worker shortage by recruiting high school students to health care careers, adding health care faculty at regional and technical colleges and using financial incentives to attract and keep providers in rural areas. 

Another of the initiatives, the Rural Health Link, would provide patients access to transportation to medical appointments using public buses, ride-share services and volunteer drivers.

“At the start of my administration, I was clear: we must transform health in West Virginia,” Morrisey said in the news release. “Today, we are providing the means to move West Virginia from the bottom of national health metrics to the very top. With $199 million in year one alone, we are empowered to revolutionize care for every citizen, from our smallest hollows to our largest cities.”

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.