This federal investment will bring crisis support directly to children and families and improve access to addiction and maternal mental health care across rural North Carolina
Today, the Trump Administration announced more than $17 million in Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding to expand mental health and substance use disorder services for North Carolina’s rural residents. The funding will support new behavioral health clinics, opioid treatment access, crisis response, early intervention, and perinatal behavioral healthcare across rural communities.
This transformational funding will deliver $4 million for three new mental health clinics; $3 million to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder through stationary medication units in five counties; and $4 million to send mobile crisis teams to six additional counties, bringing in-home support directly to children and families in crisis for up to eight weeks to help kids stay with their families and reduce hospital or residential placements. An additional $6.7 million will help young people get early support when they first start experiencing serious mental health symptoms, build regional partnerships so communities can respond faster to crisis, and give new and expecting mothers in underserved areas better access to mental health care.
The Rural Health Transformation Program is expanding access to quality healthcare, regardless of a patient’s zip code, and equipping first responders with the lifesaving resources they need when every second counts. This funding will make critical investments to strengthen rural healthcare, expand access to lifesaving services, and bring modern technology to communities across North Carolina.
“President Trump understands that every American deserves high-quality healthcare, no matter where they live,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We are putting resources directly into rural communities to strengthen the health workforce, modernize infrastructure, expand access, and bring care closer to home. We are giving states the flexibility to build solutions around the people they serve, while demanding accountability for results. That is how we strengthen rural health, improve the lives of patients and families, and Make America Healthy Again."
“President Trump gave states the resources to transform rural healthcare, and now we’re seeing those dollars move from plans into action,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Our focus now is on making sure this early progress translates into lasting results for rural patients and more resilient, sustainable health systems in the years ahead. In North Carolina, that means children and families in crisis get faster access to care, and rural providers have the tools to meet urgent behavioral health needs close to home."
Excerpt from the official page. The original is authoritative. Continue reading at US CMS Newsroom ↗