This past week, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Virginia would be receiving nearly $200 million to strengthen rural healthcare as a result of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s “VA Rural Vitality” proposal. The first year of funding that was awarded will help strengthen and modernize the way healthcare is delivered to rural residents of Virginia, and additional funding will be disbursed through 2030. This federal investment will allow Virginia to expand healthcare access to rural communities, strengthen and increase the rural healthcare workforce, modernize rural healthcare facilities and technologies, and support innovative new models that bring high-quality and dependable care closer to home.
For far too long, rural communities have seen a decline in the level of healthcare services provided to them. There are numerous reasons for this, but often, rural communities have lost healthcare facilities and qualified nurses, physicians, and other medical professionals to more populated regions of our Commonwealth. This new investment is targeted in a way that seeks to reverse these trends, as well as to create a homegrown pipeline of healthcare professionals that will serve the very communities that they grew up in.
This strategy to address rural healthcare shortages will seek to bring more care within reach of rural residents – ensuring that hours of travel will not be needed for those who require preventative, primary, maternal, and behavioral health services. The Commonwealth will also strengthen its clinical workforce by supporting training, residencies, recruitment and retention incentives, and new pathways that will increase healthcare education within our own communities. Technological improvement will also be a huge aspect of this strategy – not only with updated equipment, but also with telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and the leverage of artificial intelligence so clinicians can spend more time treating patients and less time on burdensome paperwork. This will help build structural efficiency and empower community providers. And Virginia will also test new primary care models that will strengthen partnerships among providers that serve rural regions and those in more populated areas. A promotion of regional collaboration will greatly improve patient outcomes.
As mentioned in past columns, I have successfully fought for – and passed – budget language that would increase the number of Graduate Medical Education slots for rural OB-GYNs to ensure rural maternal healthcare does not continue to decrease at the rapid pace we have seen in years past. This new funding for rural healthcare is sorely needed, and I am proud to support continuing initiatives that ensure my constituents have the same access to vital medical care as those who live in cities or other large localities.
As the Delegate representing the 42nd House District in the Virginia General Assembly, your concerns are my greatest priority. If ever I may be of assistance to you and your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at DelJBallard@House.Virginia.Gov. You can also follow me on Twitter @JasonBallardVA or like my Facebook page, Jason Ballard for Delegate, to keep up to date with what I am doing in Richmond and in our community on your behalf.
