Officials from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) spent three days in North Carolina this week learning about the department’s plans and progress for North Carolina’s Rural Health Transformation Program (NCRHTP).
The tour began on Monday at NCDHHS headquarters. Gov. Stein and NCDHHS Secretary Sangvai welcomed the federal delegation with opening remarks discussing North Carolina’s decades-long commitment to rural health.
Secretary Sangvai shared how NCDHHS remains committed to ensuring every North Carolinian, no matter where they live, has access to high-quality health care. North Carolina has the second-largest rural population in the U.S., with more than 3 million residents living in rural areas. Throughout the afternoon, NCRHTP leaders and initiative leads from across the department gave updates on their progress and goals in year one of the five-year program.
After the Raleigh visit, CMS leaders joined the NCRHTP team for a trip to western North Carolina to meet and greet rural health care partners. They stopped in Elkin on Tuesday to visit Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital, held a Western NC Stakeholder Roundtable in Arden that afternoon and concluded the tour Wednesday in Asheville with a discussion about long-term sustainability for NCRHTP initiatives.
