WV gives $2 million in Rural Health Transformation funds to community health centers

The state of West Virginia is distributing more than $2 million in federal Rural Health Transformation program funds to community health centers in the state, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Tuesday.

The state will give $1,656,432 to the West Virginia Primary Care Association and $500,000 to the Monongahela Valley Association of Health Centers. 

“Community health centers are a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians, especially in rural areas where access to healthcare can be a challenge,” Morrisey said in a news release. “These investments will give our healthcare providers better tools to spend less time on paperwork and more time caring for patients. That’s how we improve health outcomes, strengthen our communities, and help more West Virginians get healthy and return to the workforce.”

The money will “improve coordination among providers, strengthen data sharing and modernize clinic operations to deliver more efficient and accessible healthcare,” Morrisey’s office said in the news release. 

The West Virginia Primary Care Association will support the phased development of a statewide clinically integrated network that will deploy shared tools for care coordination, population health management, data analytics and quality reporting, creating a foundation for future statewide expansion, the news release says. The network will begin with 16 community health center organizations serving 40 West Virginia counties. 

The Monongahela Valley Association of Health Centers will “execute an operational transformation designed to significantly improve healthcare access, operational efficiency, care coordination and long-term health outcomes across its clinic locations in Fairmont, Shinnston and Mannington,” the release says. 

West Virginia received $199 million in federal dollars from the Rural Health Transformation Program for 2026. The five-year program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which made historic cuts to healthcare and food assistance spending. 

The program aims to “empower states to transform the existing rural healthcare infrastructure and build sustainable healthcare systems that expand access, enhance quality of care and improve outcomes for patients,” according to CMS.