Morrisey: $2.4M of WV’s Rural Health funds will go to 3 organizations for employer-based health

The state of West Virginia will award $2.4 million of its federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding to three organizations to expand worksite and employer-based health services. 

It’s the first announced allocation of the state’s funding from the federal money. The five-year program awarded West Virginia nearly $199 million for the first year. It’s meant 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.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Friday announced allocations of $1.17 million to the Spotted Owl Health Care Organization and its partner the Chesapeake Healthcare Center, $612,000 to Charleston Area Medical Center and $612,000 to the Cabell Huntington Foundation. The money will be used to help expand worksite clinics and employer-based healthcare services that residents access care where they work, according to a news release from the state.

“We are putting these historic resources to work to improve the health of West Virginians and strengthen our workforce,” Morrisey said in the release. “By bringing healthcare closer to where people work, we can identify health problems earlier, better manage chronic conditions, and help more West Virginians stay healthy and on the job. These first awards are another important step toward transforming healthcare delivery across our state.”

The Rural Health Transformation Program is funded by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last summer. The law made historic cuts to healthcare and food assistance spending in the United States.

Dale Witte, a spokesman for Vandalia Health, parent company of CAMC, said the hospital will use the money to establish a statewide network by integrating employer-based access points with Vandalia’s primary care locations, mobile clinical assets and telemedicine hubs.

The program, called Vandalia WorkWell Connect, aims to “identify chronic disease risk earlier, connect employees to timely primary and specialty care, support functional ability and work-status coordination, reduce avoidable health events, and generate standardized workforce and health outcome data for the State,” Witte said. 

The $2.4 million will come from West Virginia’s Health to Prosperity (HTP) initiative, one of seven key parts of Morrisey’s plan for the funding. Additional announcements of grants are coming, Morrisey said. Singh told lawmakers recently the program is on track to obligate its entire $199 million in Rural Health funds by Oct. 30 to meet a federal deadline.

“These first awards represent an important investment in the health of West Virginia’s workforce,” Singh said in the release Friday. “Expanding access to care through worksite clinics can help people address health concerns earlier, better manage chronic conditions, and stay connected to work and their communities. That’s good for workers, families, employers, and the State as a whole.”