WV to give $2.4M in Rural Health funds to expand Ascend to healthcare professionals

HURRICANE, W.Va. – The state of West Virginia will allocate $2.4 million in federal Rural Health Transformation Program funds to expand the Ascend program to recruit healthcare workers throughout the state, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Wednesday.

“We are moving quickly to put these historic resources to work improving healthcare outcomes for West Virginians,” Morrisey said in a news release. “That starts with making sure our communities have the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals they need. By strengthening our healthcare workforce, we can improve access to care, help West Virginians live healthier lives, and get more people healthy and back to work.”

The initiative aims to recruit 125 licensed healthcare professionals to rural parts of the state in the first year. 

Marshall University President Brad Smith and wife Alys Smith spearheaded the Ascend West Virginia program in 2021 to recruit remote workers to West Virginia with financial assistance and programming. The program has since expanded to attract teachers and military veterans to the state. 

Ascend West Virginia is operated by West Virginia University, which will partner on Ascend Health with WVU Medicine, Marshall University, Marshall Health, Vandalia Health, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and the state Department of Tourism. 

The money will be used for three programs: Ascend West Virginia Healthcare, First Ascent Healthcare and a third pilot program, said Danny Twilley, WVU’s assistant vice president of economic, community and asset development.

Ascend West Virginia Healthcare aims to attract out-of-state health care professionals into six areas of the state: the Greenbrier Valley, the greater Elkins region, the New River Gorge, the Charleston area, the Eastern Panhandle or the greater Morgantown area, he said.

First Ascent Healthcare will target graduates of Marshall, WVU and the School of Osteopathic Medicine to live in any of those six areas or in Huntington, Twilley said. The new pilot program will provide opportunities for healthcare professionals to live anywhere in the state, Twilley said. 

The 125 medical professionals will comprise the “full gamut” of licensed healthcare professionals, from social workers and mental health providers to physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses and physicians, said Beth Hammers, vice dean for administration at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University. 

Twilley said the program will work to fill critical positions within the Marshall Health Network, WVU Medicine and Vandalia Health. 

“They’ll know that better than we will,” Twilley said. “And so that’s where we’re going to identify, and we’re going to learn a lot in year one about exactly the type of individual that will be applying, the positions that they are applying for, and the locations in which they’re going to live.”

In a statement Wednesday, state health secretary Arvin Singh said he’s excited to partner with Ascend. 

“Ascend WV’s expertise in relocation and workforce integration makes them an ideal partner to help healthcare professionals and their families establish roots in West Virginia communities,” he said. “Through this initiative, we aim to build a stronger, more resilient healthcare workforce across the state.”

The Rural Health Transformation Program, funded by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 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 CMS.

The program 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. The five-year program awarded $199 million to West Virginia in its first year. 

Morrisey announced last week the program would award $2.4 million to expand three workplace health programs in the state.