(The Center Square) – Qualifying rural hospitals in North Carolina will share $213 million from a $50 billion initiative established by the federal Working Families Tax Cuts legislation.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Monday said states will be able to “expand access to care in rural communities, strengthen the rural health workforce, modernize rural facilities and technology and support innovative models that bring high-quality, dependable care closer to home.”
North Carolina’s 100 counties are generally considered a split of 80 rural and 20 urban, with about 3 million of the state’s 11 million population. Twenty counties have no hospital, and 35 have no intensive care unit beds.
Twenty hospitals within the state’s Rural Hospital Program are critical access with 25 or fewer beds getting cost-based reimbursement from Medicare, and 11 are small rural facilities with 49 or less beds.
The state has more than 400 rural health facilities, 96 of which are health clinics.
“Today marks an extraordinary milestone for rural health in America,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Thanks to Congress establishing this investment and President Trump for his leadership, states are stepping forward with bold, creative plans to expand rural access, strengthen their workforces, modernize care, and support the communities that keep our nation running. CMS is proud to partner with every state to turn their ideas into lasting improvements for rural families.”
North Carolina’s $213,008,356 award was exceeded only by Texas ($281 million), Alaska ($272 million), California ($233 million), Montana ($233 million), Oklahoma ($223 million), Kansas $221 million), Georgia ($218 million) and Missouri ($216 million).
Applications were evaluated through merit review consistent with the scoring framework given in the notice of funding opportunity.
