NCDHHS forms advisory committee for $213 million rural health program
The more than 40-member committee will help guide the design and implementation of North Carolina’s federally funded Rural Health Transformation Program.
RALEIGH — A newly formed state advisory committee will help guide the implementation of a federally funded program intended to address health care access and delivery problems in rural North Carolina.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that more than 40 people will serve on the NC Rural Health Transformation Program Advisory Committee.
The committee brings together health care providers, community representatives, state legislators, state agency officials, insurers and representatives of organizations working in rural health, aging, disability services, workforce development, telehealth and local government.
NCDHHS said the committee will provide community, provider and regional perspectives as the department designs and implements the statewide program. Its work will include providing information about access problems, implementation barriers and the long-term sustainability of program initiatives.
North Carolina’s Rural Health Transformation Program is supported by more than $213 million in federal funding during its first year. The funding comes from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
According to NCDHHS, more than 3 million North Carolina residents live in rural areas, giving the state the nation’s second-largest rural population. The transformation program is intended to address longstanding differences in health care access and delivery affecting those communities.
The advisory committee’s membership includes representatives of hospitals, nurses, physicians, community health centers, tribal organizations, health plans, county governments and state agencies. Four members of the General Assembly are also included.
The committee will meet quarterly. Its first meeting is scheduled for Aug. 5 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
The meeting will be open to the public. People may attend at NCDHHS headquarters, 1915 Health Services Way in Raleigh, or watch online through the department’s YouTube channel.
NCDHHS disclosed that its announcement was supported through a federal financial-assistance award totaling $213,008,356.47, with the full amount funded by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Department of Health and Human Services.
The advisory committee is the latest implementation step for a program that includes initiatives involving rural health technology, emergency medical services and other health care infrastructure.
Editor’s note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
