CHARLESTON, W.Va. (The Hinton News) – Governor Patrick Morrisey announced nearly $2.2 million in Rural Health Transformation Program awards to help community health centers across West Virginia improve patient care, reduce administrative costs, and expand access to healthcare in rural communities.
“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,” said Governor Morrisey. “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 funding, awarded through the Provider Productivity Support Fund, includes a $1,656,432 award to the West Virginia Primary Care Association (WVPCA) and a $500,000 award to the Monongahela Valley Association of Health Centers (MVA). Together, these projects will improve coordination among providers, strengthen data sharing, and modernize clinic operations to deliver more efficient and accessible healthcare.
WVPCA will support the phased development of a statewide clinically integrated network, beginning with 16 community health center organizations serving 40 West Virginia counties. The network will deploy shared tools for care coordination, population health management, data analytics, and quality reporting, creating a foundation for future statewide expansion.
MVA 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. MVA, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and founding member of WVPCA that has served North Central West Virginia since 1958, will streamline revenue cycle management, upgrade information technology infrastructure and cybersecurity, integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted clinical documentation tools, optimize clinical staffing models, and expand data sharing through the West Virginia Health Information Network (WVHIN).
“We are excited to work with both the West Virginia Primary Care Association and community health centers like MVA because of their proven ability to bring providers together, eliminate administrative bottlenecks, and deliver measurable improvements that benefit communities statewide,” Secretary of Health Dr. Arvin Singh said. “Pairing statewide data integration and technical assistance with local workflow modernization builds the exact infrastructure needed to strengthen healthcare delivery for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians.”
“The Trump Administration’s Rural Health Transformation Program has a simple formula for success: state innovation backed by federal funds equals lasting improvements for rural communities,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “By investing in locally driven solutions, West Virginia is giving providers the tools and technology they need to improve care, expand access, and build a stronger rural health system.”
Additional SmartCare Catalyst Provider Productivity Support Fund awards will be announced as implementation continues across the state.
This press release is supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the financial assistance award totaling $199,476,098.72 with 100% funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor endorsement by, CMS/HHS or the U.S. Government.
