Health secretary details $200M rural health award and five-year plan; committee presses on speed and oversight

Charleston — West Virginia Department of Health Secretary (Dr.) Singh told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that the department has secured nearly $200 million for the first year of a $1 billion, five-year Rural Health Transformation Program and urged quick action to spend the funds while meeting federal conditions.

"For 2026, we've secured close to $200,000,000," Singh said, describing the award and the department’s seven pillars, including a connected-care grid, workforce development and value-based payment models intended to address rural access and chronic disease.

Singh told senators the funding is federal and that the state must obtain spending authority and set procurement processes that CMS will approve; he said rapid execution is essential because unspent money risks clawback. "If we don't quickly act and spend that money, it'll be clawed back," he said, adding that strong metrics and vendor performance will determine future awards.

The secretary outlined agency priorities and several specific budget requests: $126,000 for hepatitis B and C RNA testing kits (36 kits at roughly $3,500 each), roughly $71,000 for diagnostic shipping supplies to meet new federal packaging standards, $512,000 to hire six staff to stand up a Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreement state program and $100,000 to implement artificial-intelligence tools for grants management.

Singh also described improvements at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner: open cases decreased from 1,375 in 2024 to about 750, a roughly 45% reduction, although he said the office still has only four forensic pathologists while the workload suggests a need for about 12.

Committee members probed implementation details: how grants and RFPs will be structured, whether rural hospitals are guaranteed funding, timelines for first award disbursements and whether the department will be granted access to cash in the federal payment system. Department staff said CMS has awarded the grant but the state must submit budget revisions and obtain CMS approvals to draw down cash; the department expects to issue RFPs and begin vendor selection within weeks and distribute initial awards in a matter of months.

Several senators stressed transparency and equitable geographic access to the funds; Singh said the department will design competitive grant processes, publish public-facing dashboards, and update the legislature on spending progress.

The committee reserved final decisions for appropriation votes and follow-up oversight as the department moves to operationalize the award and develop procurement and accountability guardrails.